After a pass interference penalty wasn't called near the end of regulation during the Rams' 26-23 overtime win in New Orleans in the NFC Championship game that would have given the Saints a first down and likely ended the game, there's been nationwide outrage.
And there's been a lot of talk about what the league can do to avoid this kind of embarrassment moving forward.
Former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira had a simple solution while on Fox's Last Call, on which he and fellow former vice president of officiating Dean Blandino go over the previous weekend's games.
"You just have to look at this that (it) really directly leads to the outcome of the game and keeps a team out of the Super Bowl," Pereira said. "Officiating has been a struggle for a while now, the past couple of years especially. I can't say it's much worse now, but there's just so much more exposure. I think something has to be done. There has to be a way to protect against what happened in that game. Do you make replay reviewable in the last two minutes of the game? I think that's a Band-Aid. I think we've got to look at this and see if there's a better way to correct some of these mistakes, not in replay, but with an eighth official. That's my current thought. In a booth. He's part of a crew. He's able to call down immediately after a play he sees one replay, he's got all of the recording equipment. He calls down and says, 'Bill Vinovich, that was pass interference on L.A. It's the Saints' ball, first down at the 6. Play on.' "
On the play in question, Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman clearly hits Saints receiver Tommy Lee Lewis well before the ball ever reaches him. Robey-Coleman even admitted to that being the case after the game. Yet no call was made and the Saints were forced to kick a field goal to take a 23-20 lead. Had the penalty been called, they would have had a first down at the Rams 6 and could have run out the clock before attempting a short game-winning field goal that could have sent them on to the Super Bowl.
Instead, the Rams got an opportunity to tie the game and send it to overtime, where they won on a 57-yard field goal.
Vinovich was the referee in charge of Sunday's all-star crew that worked the NFC Championship. But it also was his crew that worked the Steelers' 33-30 loss to the Chargers during which there were several controversial calls, including several false starts that weren't penalized and three offsides calls on the Steelers at the end of the game on a game-winning field goal try. The Chargers missed the first attempt on which Joe Haden was called for being offside, then blocked the second attempt. They insisted after the game they were not offside on the play, something replay seemed to support.
The Steelers also had a pair of pass interference penalties called against them in a 31-28 loss at New Orleans late in the season, both of which came on fourth-down plays and led to touchdowns.
Of course, the Steelers also benefitted from a roughing the passer call on Calais Campbell in a 20-16 win at Jacksonville that kept a drive alive.
Some would suggest those things even out. And in the NFL, there are only certain penalties, such as having 12 men on the field, that can be looked at by replay.
What Pereira doesn't want to see is more replay involved.
"I hate to get replay itself more involved and have more three-minute stops," he said. "But I just think it's time to take a big overall look and have an official in a booth who can contribute."
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