Packers take issue with pass-interference challenge rulings; Eagles coach Doug Pederson says they’re ‘working fine’

The NFL’s new pass-interference challenge rule took center stage for part of the Eagles’ Thursday night game against the Packers, and not for good reason.

At least two of the calls during the Eagles’ 34-27 win over Green Bay at Lambeau Field were met with confusion by both coaches and outside observers. The Eagles’ Doug Pederson challenged one pass-interference call and had another reviewed on a scoring play. The Eagles benefited from one and lost the challenge on a questionable ruling. Packers defensive back Kevin King appeared to hit Alshon Jeffery’s hands before the pass got there, but the officials didn’t overturn the no-call late in the third quarter.

Carson Wentz found Jeffery on the next play for a first down, but the Eagles lost a timeout in the process, leaving them with just one going into the fourth quarter.

“The one I challenged, I thought we might have had that, thought maybe King got his hand there a little bit before the ball did,” Pederson said during his Friday news conference. “It didn’t go in our favor, and that’s OK.”

The challenge rule was implemented this season in response to the Saints-Rams NFC championship game that featured an egregious no-call. But it’s become more and more apparent that, save for glaringly bad calls, overturns are hard to come by. It’s gotten off to a rocky start because of that.

Maybe it’s because the Eagles escaped Green Bay with a win, but Pederson is fine with the new rule.

The Eagles’ first touchdown Thursday came after an offensive pass-interference call on tight end Zach Ertz was overturned on review. Ertz had been flagged for blocking Packers linebacker Preston Smith on a “pick” play, but the officials said the screen was permitted because Ertz had stayed behind the line of scrimmage.

“I think [the rule] is working fine,” Pederson said. “It does give us a little bit of leeway, or at least an opportunity to challenge something if we see it. It’s like with any challenge. You’re subject to further review. I feel like it’s working and we’ll continue to evaluate it and keep studying it. ... We’ll see how it goes this week."

Packers coach Matt LaFleur isn’t as pleased with the rule. Green Bay lost a challenge early in the third quarter, when Avonte Maddox broke up a pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Maddox might have been face-guarding Valdes-Scantling, but Al Riveron, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating, said in a tweet that “there was no clear and obvious evidence that [Maddox] significantly hindered the opponent."

“I really don’t know what pass interference is anymore,” LaFleur said in his postgame news conference. “I’ll just leave it at that."

He added: “It looked clear and obvious to me, but I’m not the one making those decisions.”

That’s about as much as LaFleur was able to say without getting fined by the NFL for criticizing the officials. But he’s not alone. Troy Aikman questioned the calls on Fox’s broadcast, and former NFL coach Tony Dungy jumped in, too.

While the Eagles were still emerge victorious after Nigel Bradham’s interception, the confusion did cost the Eagles on the Packers’ final drive. Pederson held onto his final timeout instead of challenging a pass that seemed to have hit the turf before Packers fullback Danny Vitale hauled it in.

“I just didn’t really get a clear picture of that one,” Pederson said. “I didn’t want to risk another challenge, obviously, having given up a timeout already in a crucial part of the game.”