Rams coach Sean McVay said Wednesday that the NFL agreed with him about Sunday's late pass interference call in Denver. "They agreed with me," he said. The Rams led 26-23 with 1:15 left. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw to receiver Pat Bryant, and Rams cornerback Josh Wallace picked it off. Officials flagged Wallace for pass interference and wiped out the pick. Nix scored on a quarterback sneak with 47 seconds left, and Denver won 30-26. Bryant said afterward that he "sold it just a little bit." The league hasn't confirmed McVay's account publicly. McVay says he only wants clear feedback for his players. "That game's over with," he said. Replay officials can't review pass interference this season.

1. Let Replay Fix Calls Like This One

These writers want a replay official to be able to fix clear misses.

Replay should be able to check a call like this. Prince J. Grimes of USA Today's For The Win says leaving pass interference out of replay is "a gap in the NFL's replay system that shouldn't still exist in 2026." He'd let only the replay official start a review, and only in the last two minutes of each half and in overtime.

A quick look from the booth would be enough. ESPN NFL writer Ben Solak predicts that a few more calls like this will bring replay assist to pass interference. "So long as it's the speedy assist method, and not the prolonged review method, I'm all for it," he wrote. Ravens beat writer Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic wants the "eye in the sky" to "at least correct the obvious mistakes." Colton Pouncy, who covers the Lions for The Athletic, floats an automatic review whenever a pass interference flag is thrown on an end-zone target or on a play that would have been a turnover.

Replay assist keeps growing. It can now wipe out some wrongly thrown flags, like facemasks and horse collars, when the video is clear. This season it can even add a flag for some disqualifications. Rich McKay co-chairs the NFL's competition committee. In March he said, "Over time, we will probably expand replay assist even more."

2. Don't Bring Back Review, Because 2019 Didn't Work

Coaches and skeptics say pass interference is too subjective for replay, and 2019 proved it.

Skeptics say the 2019 experiment didn't work. The NFL let coaches challenge pass interference for one season after the Rams-Saints no-call. Officials overturned only 13 of 81 coach challenges. When the committee surveyed teams afterward, 21 of the 29 that answered didn't want to keep it.

It's a judgment call, so the officials have to own it. Lions coach Dan Campbell says review just "gets muddy" because the call is "so subjective." "If it's 50-50, they're going to go with what's been called," he said. "Those guys have got to make the call, and you've got to live with it." Michael Silver, a national NFL writer for The Athletic, made a similar case Tuesday: "We saw how futile this was in 2019."

Not everyone thinks the flag was wrong. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk wrote Tuesday, "Personally, I saw interference," and called it a judgment call.

Coaches move on, Payton says. Broncos coach Sean Payton coached the Saints team that lost the 2018-season NFC title game to the Rams after a famous pass interference no-call. On Monday he said, "The longer you get in this thing, the less you discuss penalties." "I've yet to see one get changed either way," he added.

3. The Real Problem Is Receivers Selling Contact

This camp wants the league to punish receivers who sell contact.

The receiver admits he sold it. Bryant told CBS Colorado on Monday he "did sell it just enough" to get the flag. Bryant also insists it was "a little pass interference." "He definitely gave me a shove," he said. NFL rules have no specific penalty for a receiver who fakes or exaggerates contact.

Start fining the floppers. Former NFL defensive back Jason McCourty said so on The Pat McAfee Show. "We are not actors," he said. "The NBA is fining guys, we gonna have to start fining guys in the NFL." Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports wrote that flopping is "working, and it needs to stop." Solak wrote, "There's nothing I respect less than receivers farming pass interference instead of playing the ball."

Where This Lands

McVay says the league told him the flag was wrong, and the NFL hasn't said anything publicly. One camp wants a replay official to be able to fix clear misses. Campbell and other skeptics say 2019 already showed that reviewing pass interference doesn't work. A third camp wants the league to punish receivers who sell contact. McVay and Payton both sit on the competition committee, which would take up any change. Neither has said publicly whether he wants one.

Sources