Football related notes

I was able to catch about 60% of tonight's Vikings game, and while they won, the victory seems cheap. The play-calling and decision making exhibited by the staff and players was bad enough, but one of the really bizarre rules of the NFL basically won this game for Minnesota. With around 1:20 left in the game, 3rd and 3 in their own territory, Gus Frerotte elects to fling a pass 40 yards downfield into double coverage. The game is tied and what they need, still having a couple timeouts, is to get a first down and keep the clock running. Now, if the pass just went incomplete, they'd be stuck punting again, possibly to Reggie Bush who has already taken 2 back for scores in the game. Instead, the Saints are -- rightfully, but it was still a lame climax -- called for pass interference on the play. First down inside the 20, game basically over.

The NFL's pass interference rule utterly confuses me. If a defensive player is called for interference, the ball is placed at the spot of the foul, meaning the offense can gain upwards of 50 yards in a single penalty; and if the infraction occurs in the end zone, first and goal at the 1. Here's the thing -- the penalty assumes the offensive player would have caught the ball, which seems like a ridiculous presupposition. In college, defensive interference gets you a 15 yard penalty, regardless of the length of the throw. That makes so much more sense to me and I don't understand how the NFL hasn't picked up on that. That and the kickoff out of bounds rule. That needs to change as well.