Ron Rivera found a grey area in the pass

head coach Ron Rivera thought he Bruce Matthews Jersey was using the new pa s interference challenge to his advantage Thursday night. It turns out, he found one of the major grey areas in the NFL's new rule where coaches can challenge pa s interference calls and non-calls.With 2:19 left in the fourth quarter of Thursday's lo s to the , Rivera challenged a pa s interference that wasn't called in order to advance the Panthers' field position and gain an automatic first down. threw an incomplete pa Kamalei Correa Jersey s to deep down the right side. The pa s appeared if it had an opportunity to be caught had there not have been contact on Samuel.When Rivera challenged the call, the replay showed Buccaneers defensive back hit Samuel five yards past the line of scrimmage, which would result in an illegal contract penalty and an automatic first down. Newton still had the ball in his hands when the contract was made. Rivera lost the pa s interference challenge because technically there was no pa s interference on the Eddie George Jersey field. There was illegal contact, but that's not what the pa s interference challenge was intended for.The NFL has a problem on its hands with its new rule. "That you can't challenge illegal contact," Rivera when he lost the challenge Thursday night. "I said, 'No, I was challenging pa s interference.' I thought when the guy was riding him while the ball was in the air that would be pa s interference, even though the contact started while the ball was still in his hand."The result of the play showed NFL officials mi sed the illegal contact, a penalty that wasn't called and Jayon Brown Jersey cost Rivera a timeout in the proce s. The pa s interference challenge was intended for coaches to Taylor Lewan Jersey challenge a pa s interference ruling, but illegal contact should be considered as part of the review proce s. Carolina would have been rewarded with the first down and Rivera wouldn't have been charged a timeout. The NFL still has plenty of problems to fix with the pa s interference challenge. They can solve this one immediately as illegal contact on a pa s interference review will certainly come up in the future.