Replays can’t solve everything, but something beats nothing
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By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Missed tackles. Errant throws. Fumbles. Offsides. Blown assignments. Dropped passes.
Such mistakes are part of football as two teams compete. There’s always a third team on the field as well, its members competing against themselves in man’s never-ending (and futile) quest for perfection.
When Chicago’s Cody Parker missed a game-winning kick against Philadelphia two weeks ago, he was crestfallen. He remained bent over with hands on knees for several seconds before lineman Bobby Massie straightened him up, patted him on the helmet and gave him a hug.
I’m not sure which official – likely side judge Gary Cavaletto or line judge Rusty Baynes – blew the controversial call in Sunday’s NFC championship game. But whoever it was could use a hug, too.
Either Cavaletto or Baynes were in the vicinity with primary responsibility to render judgment when New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees threw an incomplete pass to wide receiver Tommylee Lewis with 1:45 remaining in regulation. I imagine the culprit felt sick after seeing a replay of Nickell Robey-Coleman’s blatant pass interference, a non-call that arguably prevented the Saints from advancing to the Super Bowl.
Had the obvious penalty been flagged, New Orleans could’ve drained the clock and lined up for a game-winning, chip-shot field goal. Instead, the Los Angeles Rams regained possession with 1:41 remaining and a timeout. They proceeded to tie the score on Greg Zuerlein’s 48-yard field goal and win in overtime on his 57-yarder.
Afterward, much of the conversation focused on the official(s) who failed to make a no-brainer call. “I hope no other team has to lose a game the way we lost that one today,” Saints coach Sean Payton said.
Now a phalanx of voices is calling for an expansion of instant replay, which currently isn’t applied to pass interference calls. Meanwhile, another chorus has renewed its complaints that replay rulings are as frustrating as real-time decisions, and the whole system should be scrapped.
A case in point occurred in Sunday’s late game, when Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman appeared to muff a punt that was recovered by the Chiefs midway through the fourth quarter of New England’s victory against Kansas City.
We saw multiple replays of Edelman (inexplicably) reaching for the ball. Even at max magnification in super-slow motion, the replays seemed inconclusive. In such cases, rulings on the field stand, but this call (inexplicably) was overturned. Had it occurred in the closing moments with the outcome in question, it would’ve received the same scrutiny and derision as the non-call in Sunday’s early game.
That’s the thing: Calls and non-calls, reversals and non-reversals, will always be ripe for criticism and consternation. That’s true whether replay is expanded, abandoned or left untouched.
Few mistakes are as egregious as we saw in the Saints-Rams contest, and only games with roman numerals have higher stakes. Lest we forget, a controversial call was part of last year’s Super Bowl. Philadelphia’s Corey Clement bobbled a catch as he stepped out of the back of the end zone. There was near-unanimous agreement among the announcers, the Twitterverse, and the folks at every Super Bowl party: The touchdown would be overturned.
It was upheld. “I give up,” analyst Chris Collingsworth said.
The feeling is understandable.
But we must live with officials’ decisions, aided by replay or not. I’d much rather provide them with assistance than withhold it. Doing away with the system wouldn’t make matters better. It would just allow ALL obvious mistakes to go uncorrected … instead of some of them.
Yes, if pass interference was reviewable, we’d likely have a Patriots-Saints matchup in the Super Bowl. And to everyone who opposes the expansion or existence of reviews, no, replay isn’t perfect. It doesn’t solve everything, isn’t consistent and remains subject to user error.
We’ve got to get over it. There’s simply no removing the human element, not from players, not from coaches and not from officials.
Sunday’s non-call enters sports lore alongside notorious gaffes like Don Denkinger’s “safe” call in the 1985 World Series, and Michael Jordan’s push off in the 1998 NBA Finals. Replays weren’t used back then, but Denkinger obviously made a mistake. Whether the NBA ref was correct to swallow his whistle on Jordan isn’t as clear.
I favor removing officials’ mistakes from the proceedings as much possible, within reason. If that means looking at pass interference calls, fine.
But don’t be fooled. Controversy would still bubble up, especially on highly subjective calls. Even if every play was eligible for review – I shudder at the thought – officials’ errors would remain part of the game.
If you see Cavaletto or Baynes this week, give them a hug.
— Brooklyn-born and Howard-educated, Deron Snyder writes his award-winning column for The Washington Times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Follow him on Twitter @DeronSnyder.
