Time for NFL to let all plays in final two minutes be reviewable

Coaches in all sports like to say that no one play costs a team a game. There’s some truth in that. A game is an interlocking series of pieces that all play a role.

But mostly coaches say it to protect the guilty parties from criticism.

One play did cost the Lions a game Thursday night, but should it have? Not if there had been a rule in effect allowing reviews of all plays in the final two minutes of a game.

During Thursday’s dramatic finish, Lions defensive end Devin Taylor was called for a penalty after his hand perhaps grazed the facemask of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It was one of those calls that looks like a penalty at the time but upon further review doesn’t hold up to video examination.

We know what happened next. Officials called Taylor for a penalty, giving the Packers one more shot at the end zone. Rodgers then hit tight end Richard Rodgers with a Hail Mary pass, and the Packers won 27-23.

If I were NFL commissioner, I would push a rule making all plays reviewable in the final two minutes, when one play really can be more important than all the ones that came before it. You say it would bring the game to a screeching halt? It can’t make the game any slower than the last two minutes of an NBA game. Would we be heading for a future without human referees? Maybe, but as commissioner, I’d have to think about what’s best for the game.

Oh, wait. If I were NFL commissioner, I’d have taken last year’s $44 million salary and retired.