Your thoughts on Passing Interference in the NFL?

[Brandon]

I hate it. Despise it. I hate it even more than where they place kickoffs now, even though I vehemently believe they need to either change it back to the way it was or simply let both teams start from the 20. But I digress.

PI is the single most game-changing penalty in the league. You can be at your own 20 yard line needing a touch down with 10 seconds to go, and with one play be at your opponents 20 yards line because of a potentially bad PI call. I think this needs to change, maybe go the way of the college version.

I say make it a 10 or 15 yard penalty with an automatic first down, it seems much more realistic to me. Thoughts?

 

[red4tribe]

I hate it. Despise it. I hate it even more than where they place kickoffs now, even though I vehemently believe they need to either change it back to the way it was or simply let both teams start from the 20. But I digress.

PI is the single most game-changing penalty in the league. You can be at your own 20 yard line needing a touch down with 10 seconds to go, and with one play be at your opponents 20 yards line because of a potentially bad PI call. I think this needs to change, maybe go the way of the college version.

I say make it a 10 or 15 yard penalty with an automatic first down, it seems much more realistic to me. Thoughts?

I don't think I would change it to the college rules because you then might encourage PI should it be beyond 15 yards. That being said, I do think the penalty is ridiculous. I really, really think it is called way too often. Yes, it needs to be called sometimes but how many times do you see it called when there was just a little bit of soft pushing and clawing? It's a physical game, you need to let them play. Stop giving the offenses so many extra advantages.

 

[Brandon]

I don't think I would change it to the college rules because you then might encourage PI should it be beyond 15 yards. That being said, I do think the penalty is ridiculous. I really, really think it is called way too often. Yes, it needs to be called sometimes but how many times do you see it called when there was just a little bit of soft pushing and clawing? It's a physical game, you need to let them play. Stop giving the offenses so many extra advantages.

I've heard your argument from friends, but I honestly don't get what the big deal would be in that scenario. So what if it would encourage PI on deep passes? You're still getting yards and a free first down, and in situations where you need to go deep at the end of the game you're still benefiting because the game can't end on a defensive foul.

I just can't stand seeing the whole field given on one play because of an iffy call when the other team works for long drives for the same result.

 

[red4tribe]

I've heard your argument from friends, but I honestly don't get what the big deal would be in that scenario. So what if it would encourage PI on deep passes? You're still getting yards and a free first down, and in situations where you need to go deep at the end of the game you're still benefiting because the game can't end on a defensive foul.

I just can't stand seeing the whole field given on one play because of an iffy call when the other team works for long drives for the same result.

I know what you're saying, just to me if someone lays out a 50 yard bomb and gets tackled when it would have been an easy catch, that's a 35 yard difference which would be a big deal. It's really a double edged sword though, there isn't a perfect solution unfortunately.

 

[yooperpackfan]

I would also like to see the NFL go to the college version for the same reason as Brandon.
Also I would like to see more Offensive PI called.
Alot of it is really blatant but the prima dona receivers get away with it most of the time.

 

[Carl]

I don't have a problem with it being a spot foul. I just think it should only be called when it is blatantly obvious. I hate it when a team gets free yards because the DB barely touches the WR.

 

[Brandon]

I know what you're saying, just to me if someone lays out a 50 yard bomb and gets tackled when it would have been an easy catch, that's a 35 yard difference which would be a big deal. It's really a double edged sword though, there isn't a perfect solution unfortunately.

In that situation maybe there should be two varieties of PI. Sort of how there used to be two varieties of face mask, which is something I also wish they would take back. The league has really butchered the terminology "personal foul", to me a personal foul is when you blatantly break a rule for your benefit. There are definitely incidental facemasks and full on grab facemask and pull situations, but because of "player safety" they do away with it. Silly I think.

So with PI I would say let there be a lesser and a more severe variety. If a defender is playing the ball but makes substantial contact, then throw a flag and give the offense 10 yards and a first down. If the defender isn't playing the ball and blatantly interferes with the receivers opportunity, give them the spot foul.

 

[VolvoD]

I agree that it should NOT be at the spot of the foul. YOU CANNOT ASSUME THE RECIEVER IS AUTOMATICALLY GOING TO CATCH THE BALL. That's what burns my hide. It is a horrible "gimme". Make it a 15 yarder, end of story.