Irony is a beautiful creature.
Saints head coach Sean Payton led the charge for the NFL adopting a new rule that allows pass interference to be reviewed. It’s not very surprising that Payton would push hard for that considering the Saints were on the wrong end of a horrible no-call at the end of the NFC Championship Game.
While this rule should ensure that a play like that won’t happen this season, it might actually hurt Payton’s team most of all. Despite being victims of the blown call against the Rams, it was the Saints who actually led the league in defensive pass interference penalties last season:
Which @NFL team was called for the most defensive pass interference penalties in 2018?
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) March 28, 2019
Saints (20)
Which team was called for the fewest?
Texans (4)@NFLResearch
How about that. The Saints were the only team to average one defensive pass interference penalty per game, including the playoffs.
We don’t know how the officials will implement the rule yet, but if the Saints were called for this many without the rule, there’s now opportunity for them to get even more penalties called against them.
Or maybe they’ll get calls to go their way and Drew Brees will have a back-breaking interception to hurt them in a key moment.
Again.