Two days after his team was flagged for two key penalties on what turned out to be the game-winning drive for the Cleveland Browns, Colts owner Jim Irsay said the league informed him officials “did not make the correct calls.”<\/p>\n
The penalties occurred at the end of Indianapolis’ 39-38 loss to the Browns on Sunday. Irsay’s comments, posted Tuesday night on the social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), followed discussions he said he had with league officials.<\/p>\n
Irsay also said he believes the NFL should implement replay review for all calls — including penalties — in the final two minutes of every game.<\/p>\n
The first penalty (an illegal contact call on Colts cornerback Darrell Baker Jr.) wiped out a potential game-winning fumble recovery, and the second (defensive pass interference also against Baker) gave the Browns the ball at the Colts’ 1-yard line with 33 seconds left in the game.<\/p>\n
NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero noted on Tuesday night that the league office communicates with teams on a weekly basis about various calls, but team officials are not supposed to discuss those conversations publicly.<\/p>\n
When asked about Irsay’s comments during Wednesday’s news conference, Colts head coach Shane Steichen said his attention is on Indianapolis’ next opponent: the Saints.<\/p>\n
“I’ll just say that you guys know the answer, probably, to that, and we’ve gotta move on,” Steichen said.<\/p>\n
For the 2019 season, the NFL permitted offensive and defensive pass interference, including non-calls, to be subject to review on a one-year trial basis, but that rule was not continued for future seasons.<\/p>\n
Most recently, NFL owners rejected a proposal to make roughing the passer penalties reviewable for the 2023 season.<\/p>\n