NFL: It is “likely” there will be a review of face mask fouls in the offseason

The end of last night's Vikings-Rams game was marred by a face mask foul that was seen by all but the officials responsible for it. There was nothing the league could do about it because calls and non-calls for face masks are never verifiable.

That could change. And it should.

All the NFL needs to do is add facemask fouls to the list of potentially reviewable plays via coach's challenge, automatic replay review or replay assist.

“Yes, it is likely that face masks will come up this offseason,” NFL chief spokesman Brian McCarthy told PFT via email on Friday in response to a question about whether the competition committee will review the situation after the end of the 2024 season will check.

“Immediate replay and which plays should be reviewed and which should not be reviewed is part of the discussion every offseason and is expected to come up again,” McCarthy added. “Teams can propose a rule change, and there have been a variety of suggestions previously about which plays or whether all plays should be reviewable.”

This change is really a no-brainer. There is no valid argument against it. If anything, referee Tra Blake's pool report from last night makes it even clearer that a change is needed.

“(The quarterback) was looking in the opposite direction of me, so I didn't look at it closelyBlake said. “I wasn’t looking and of course I didn’t see the face mask being taken off. The referee had players between him and the quarterback, so he didn't get a look at it. He was also hidden. So that was the thing, we didn't see it so we couldn't call it. We couldn’t see it.”

That's okay. But everyone else could. That makes it exactly the type of error that retesting should fix.