By Bill Bradley, contributing editor
Dean Blandino, the NFL's vice president of officiating, said that the league's emphasis on making downfield calls more consistent was a success this season.
"I think it's really worked out," Blandino said during the "Official Review" segment during Tuesday's edition of "NFL Total Access." "Everybody was concerned through the preseason. Fouls were significantly up.
"But what we thought was going to happen happened. The players adjusted. The coaches adjusted. What we saw was more consistency and gametime was not impacted."
Blandino said despite an early increase in penalties, gametimes were decreased in 2014 by 1 minute and 50 seconds compared to 2013.
He added that the increase in offensive pass interference flags got lost in the increase in downfield calls.
"It's not just the defenders," he said. "It's the receivers as well. That was an emphasis.
"The coaches, the players wanted more consistency. I think we're getting there. And I like the fact that the gametime was not negatively impacted."
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
A comparison of penalties: 2013/2014
Illegal contact 54/145
Defensive holding 254/371
Offensive pass interference 76/142