Any hope that the NFL had put aside all of the consternation over last season’s officiating woes quickly dissipated amid turmoil about the calls being made — and the calls being missed — by its officials in the first two weeks of the 2019 season.
The New Orleans Saints, infamously hurt by a non-call in the NFC championship game, have already been involved in debates over two calls, and among other issues, a roughing-the-passer penalty proved costly for the Denver Broncos. Questions have been raised in and around the NFL about the manner in which Al Riveron, the league’s senior vice president of officiating, and his colleagues are administering the new rule that makes pass interference calls and non-calls subject to video review.