ORLANDO, Fla. — Ask any defensive back about how the league calls pass interference and they'll say the wide receivers get preferential treatment.
Any touch or pull could draw a flag, and it is only getting worse. In 2009, the league called defensive pass interference 190 times. That number jumped to 277 this past season.
“It’s definitely too ticky-tacky,” Lions cornerback Darius Slay said.
With so many flags flying, you’d think that every offense was granted an abundance of free yards. In some cases this is true. The Houston Texans, led by DeAndre Hopkins, who seems to almost always have a defender hanging off him, were the beneficiaries of 17 pass-interference calls last year.