By now you've undoubtedly heard about the overturned pass interference call that arguably swung Sunday's Lions-Cowboys game.
Here's a screengrab of it:
And here's a zoomed-in version of the play, where Anthony Hitchens runs into Brandon Pettigrew just before Matthew Stafford's pass reaches its intended target:
After the game, former NFP vice president of officiating Mike Pereira explained in a video for Fox Sports why the flag should not have been picked up.
Also, in case you've forgotten, our Jason La Canfora reported back in August that the NFL's current officiating czar, Dean Blandino, was seen on a party bus with Stephen Jones, son of Jerry and Cowboys executive vice president, COO and director of player personnel. Team officials were none too happy about it then, and it's doubtful they're happy about it now.
For what it's worth, here's the pool report with quotes from referee Pete Morelli:
Todd Archer (pool reporter): Can you talk about the decision to overturn the call and why you overturned the call?
Pete Morelli: The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference. We got other information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn't warrant pass interference. He thought it was face-guarding.
Archer: Which official?
Morelli: The head linesman.
Archer: What did you see?
Morelli: It's not my responsibility. I'm a hundred miles away.
Archer: Face-guarding is not a foul?
Morelli: Face-guarding is not a foul. It is a penalty in college but not in professional football.
Archer: What is the process you go through after you announce the call? Should you have waited before you announced the call?
Morelli: Probably, yes. The information came and then the officials got together a little bit later, after it was given to me, the first information. It would have probably been smoother if we got together.
Archer: Do you remember this type of play happening before?
Morelli: No, not particularly.
Archer: So one more time on who the person was that had a better view?
Morelli: The better view was from the head linesman.
Morelli said that the head linesman saw minimal contact and he (the head linesman) felt the play was face-guarding and not pass interference, and the head linesman had a better view so that's why they changed the call. Face-guarding is a penalty in college, but not the NFL. When asked what he personally saw, Morelli said, "It's not my responsibility. I'm a hundred miles away." OK, then.
