The Falcons may have gotten away with an illegal pick on their first touchdown against the Seahawks on Saturday.
Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones caught a 7-yard pass from Matt Ryan after cutting behind teammate Mohamed Sanu, who reached out to block Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane. The score tied the score 7-7 in the second quarter.
Fox NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira said during the broadcast that Sanu should have been penalized for pass interference on the play. Pereira is a former NFL vice president of officiating.
According to an NFL summary of rules, pass interference is “any act by a player more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage significantly hinders an eligible player’s opportunity to catch the ball.” One of the “prohibited acts” specifically mentioned by the rules is: “Cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact with him, without playing the ball.”
