Especially in the red zone, offenses will do whatever they can get away with to create natural rubs and picks — concepts that create receiver openings. The NFL counters the most egregious examples of this behavior by calling offensive pass interference when they happen… unless the officials miss it.
When Sunday Night Football’s Week 3 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos comes down, no matter the result, the Broncos will have a legitimate beef with Shawn Hochuli’s crew.
With 7:56 left in the first quarter, Jimmy Garoppolo hit receiver Brandon Aiyuk for a three-yard touchdown on a quick receiver screen. Or so it seemed.
Jimmy G finds Brandon Aiyuk for the 49ers TOUCHDOWN on Sunday Night Football! pic.twitter.com/cHRrroznMF
— Brian Y (@byysports) September 26, 2022
Notice how fellow receiver Deebo Samuel (No. 19) blocks cornerback Kareem Jackson (No. 22) into the end zone, an action that also prevents cornerback Ronald Darby (No. 23) from getting to Aiyuk.
It’s a great block. it’s also offensive pass interference. After NBC’s telecast came back from commercial, Mike Tirico asked NBC rules analyst and former official Terry McAulay about interference on this play.
“It was indeed offensive pass interference,” McAulay said. “It’s illegal to block more than a yard downfield, and the receiver [Samuel] clearly does that. He engages the defender more than a yard before the ball is touched by the receiver. This should have been offensive pass interference.”
“As a receiver, you have to act like you’re trying to run some kind of route,” analyst and former NFL receiver Cris Collinsworth responded. “He was pretty obvious with it.”
Had offensive pass interference been called, that would have negated the touchdown, and moved the ball 10 yards back to the Denver 13-yard line. San Francisco would have had second-and goal from the 13, so another touchdown was certainly possible at that point, but the 49ers got the touchdown they shouldn’t have.
There are several pieces of offensive pass interference in the NFL rulebook that apply to this particular play.
Section 5, Article 2(e):
Acts that are pass interference include, but are not limited to:
Cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact with him, without playing the ball;
Section 5, Article 4:
Other prohibited acts by the offense:
Blocking more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage by an offensive player prior to a pass being thrown is offensive pass interference. See 8-3-1-Item 1 for exception for an ineligible offensive player.
Note: It is also pass interference by the offense to block a defender beyond the line while the pass is in the air, if the block occurs in the vicinity of the player to whom the pass is thrown. See 8-3-1-Note for exception for ineligible players.
Samuel was eligible, so he didn’t fit any exception. The ball was in the air before Samuel blocked Jackson, but he was obviously in Aiyuk’s vicinity, so by definition, this was offensive pass interference.
Though the Broncos wound up winning this game 11-10 thanks to Jimmy Garoppolo’s decision to run out of the back of this own end zone, but that missed call could have made a major difference. We’d just like officials to be aware of the rules.
