Mistakes Raise Hopes That Instant Replay May Come Back

The debate over instant replay is likely to be lively at the owners’ meeting next March.

Some fuel was added to the fire last Sunday when the Giants’ Tito Wooten was given credit for an interception even though he caught the ball on the bounce.

Because it happened in New York, it got a lot of attention.

It didn’t get as much attention in Arizona last week, when Jake Plummer spiked the ball to set up a Joe Nedney field-goal attempt of 46 yards, the longest of his career.

The officials didn’t notice Pittsburgh had 12 men on the field. If the penalty had been assessed, Nedney would have been 5 yards closer. He hooked the 46-yarder, and the Cardinals lost in overtime.

It was the second game this year that the Cardinals have lost in overtime after a bad call. The Washington Redskins were given credit for a fumble recovery to set up the winning touchdown in Week 3.

Instant replay fell three votes shy of passing last year, mainly because the proposal would have cost a coach a timeout even if a call was overturned. New York Jets coach Bill Parcells and Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who had two critical swing votes, objected to that.

Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens’ vice president of player personnel, said it could be different this time.

“I think it’s gaining momentum,” he said.

But it takes only eight votes to block it, and there are some strong opponents. One is George Young, general manager of the Giants.

“What bothers me is that we have the best officiating in pro sports and the worst image,” he said.

That’s because, except for a report to a pool reporter, the NFL gives no explanations and hands out fines for criticizing the officials, leaving the image of a cover-up.