Pass Interference Penalties

The X-Man said

I must vehemently disagree with you here my friend. I've hated the spot foul penalty for quite some time, and it has NOTHING to do with the Saints. It's more tied to my fanaticism for the integrity of the game. I have seen way too many very good, competitive, entertaining, hard-fought games decided by a ticky-tack PI call. I hate it whether the Saints are on the field or not, and I hate it whether the Saints are the beneficiary or not. The PI spot foul is obsolete and is no longer relevant for today's NFL where the strength, speed, and athleticism of the players are at levels never imagined.

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There’s no doubt that the way pass interference is sometimes interpreted makes those huge penalties harder to deal with. I totally agree that the NFL needs to better define what is a legitimate defensive pass interference (or offensive pass interference). But I can assure you that if the penalty was the same as the college rule, the scenario we were in today would have been a perfect time for the defense to interfere to the degree necessary to stop any pass from being completed… because a 15 yard penalty would not have been nearly as bad as the 30+ yard penalty we actually got.

To not have such a big penalty at that critical moment could keep a legitimate comeback attempt get spoiled by having the defense win by interfering with the receiver. To eliminate the spot foul would give the defense the upper hand when the opposing offense is trying to put together a last-minute, game-winning drive. I already have seen this happen in college football. There’s no doubt the same thing would happen in the pros.

It would be far better just to teach the officials what a real DPI is and call it appropriately.