According to the referee whose crew called pass interference on Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens and then announced the call was reversed, an official with a better view came in and that caused the change.

Referee Pete Morelli met with pool reporter Todd Archer of ESPN.com and explained why and how the call got reversed. He also made clear that face-guarding is not a foul in the NFL, although many people are under the assumption is it.

Here's the transcript, via a tweet by the Detroit News' Josh Katzenstein:

Archer: Can you talk about the decision to overturn the call and why you overturned the call.
Morelli: The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference. We got other information from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn’t warrant pass interference. He thought it was face-guarding.

Archer: Which official?
Morelli: The head linesman.

Archer: What did you see?
Morelli: It’s not my responsibility. I’m a hundred miles away.

Archer: Face-guarding is not a foul?
Morelli: Face-guarding is not a foul. It is a penalty in college but not in professional football.

Archer: What is the process you go through after you announce the call? Should you have waited before you announced the call?
Morelli: Probably, yes. The information came and then the officials got together a little bit later, after it was given to me, the first information. It would probably been smoother if we got together.

Archer: Do you remember this type of (play) happening before?
Morelli: No, not particularly.

Archer: So one more time on who the person was that had the better view?
Morelli: The better view was from the head linesman.

I might buy that if the defender ran through the receiver before the ball hit him in the back, but he didn't.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6i8bbvCQAAumZ2.jpg

"Running through the receiver"

"Preventing him from coming back to the ball"

When there's literally a foot of open air between the 2 players.

It was total PI. Any thought that is wasn't is rediculous.

This screenshot is after he already had his hands on him and the act of interference was basically complete. The open air you speak of comes from the defender throwing his hands up to try to avoid being penalized and the receiver is falling backwards towards the ground.

The douche would have saw that if he you know watched the game .

I've already seen and acknowledged that they were both arm checking eachother, thanks.

So what is the point of posting a screenshot that is after the interference/play has taken place?

Because shit like that goes uncalled on literally every pass play?

Not with the defender not turning his head. Sure the hell doesn't go un called.

Here's everyone argument for PI:

"The ball hit him in the back and he didn't turn his head."

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. He hasn't run through the receiver and he hasn't prevented him from turning back on the ball. He only runs through him after the play is over.

CP would be calling DPI on any defender that was beat and just happened to stick his hand up in the exact right spot and knock the ball down just because he wasn't looking at it.

In that post you posted the picture as if to say the defender didn't stop him from coming back to the ball or he didn't run through the receiver because there is space between them at that moment. How does a picture that is after the play support those ideas? Do you have a point in posting that picture? Just what is it that you think it supports?

He hit his hand away as it was on a path to the ball. That is PI.

If they had kept the flag not one person would bitch as it's called as such every week. Watch the damn games.