The officiating error late in the NFC championship game between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams has been written about at length: Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis was both interfered with and struck helmet-to-helmet by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, and the NFL later privately apologized for not calling foul. Frankly, it’s time to stop dwelling on it and start looking for solutions.
Finally, someone has a suggestion for avoiding future mistakes by on-site referees – and that someone has the resume to give their idea some weight. Mike Pereira served as the NFL’s vice president of officiating for from 2004 to 2009 before leaving for an analyst position with FOX.