Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the New Orleans Saints were victimized by inconsistent officiating by the NFL’s referees and their crews. They may have drawn half as many penalties (5) as the San Francisco 49ers (10) on Sunday, but an officiating gaffe (and an obscure rule) still ended up costing New Orleans.
This time it came when Saints coach Sean Payton called a bold fake punt against the 49ers, in which quarterback Taysom Hill targeted wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith on a pass deep down the sideline. But Smith wasn’t able to turn and make a play on the ball due to an enveloping bear-hug from the 49ers player covering him.
And no penalty flags flew because of it. Payton raced over to confront referee John Hussey, who dismissed Payton’s concerns due to a rule stipulating that plays run out of a punt formation are ineligible for defensive pass interference fouls. FOX Sports NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino agreed with that ruling on the broadcast.
Payton agreed with it too, emphatically arguing that the play still qualified for a holding foul which would have kept the ball in the Saints’ control. To that, Hussey shook his head and walked away, leaving Payton rubbing his face in exasperation.
Fake punt/pass by Taysom Hill. Great throw to Tre’Quan Smith… but the 49ers DB is allowed to bear-hug him so he can’t get back to ball.
Sean Payton yells: “That was holding!”
The NFL rules are a complete mess. And it just never seems to not make sense in the #Saints’ benefit pic.twitter.com/6OCWt5Mvnu
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) December 8, 2019
What’s troubling is that this rule — that punt plays are exempt from defensive pass interference penalties — wasn’t observed just a few weeks ago, when referee Craig Wrolstad fouled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for it on a fake punt pass by Arizona Cardinals punter Andy Lee.
So if this is truly what the rules state, why are the NFL’s officiating crews still messing up and hurting teams this late in the season? Why can’t they consistently call each game they work? The NFL either needs to stop pinching pennies and hire full-time, professional officials or look into automated referees, much like the “robot umpires” Major League Baseball is experimenting with. In a sport where one or two plays can make such a big difference, the NFL’s continued reliance on officials who can’t call a clean game from one week to the next is shaping into a crisis.
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