CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The New Orleans Saints finally benefited from the pass interference rule that they inspired in the offseason.
Sean Payton won his first PI challenge of the year in the first quarter of Sunday's game when officials ruled after a replay review that Carolina Panthers cornerback James Bradberry interfered with receiver Michael Thomas in the end zone.
It was a 24-yard penalty. Saints running back Alvin Kamara scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Payton, who turned 53 on Sunday, joked about winning the challenge following New Orleans' 42-10 win.
"That's like a 'hard eight' in Vegas, huh?" Payton said with a laugh. "That was nice. I thought it was the right ruling. I was appreciative of it. There's my birthday gift."
Payton, who was 0-for-2 on replay challenges coming into the game, led the charge this offseason when the NFL made the groundbreaking rule change to allow pass interference calls to be reviewed by replay.
The new rule was inspired by the infamous missed pass interference call that contributed to New Orleans' loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game.
However, the standard for overturning such calls has been hard to pinpoint, leading to heavy criticism from coaches, players, media and fans.
Heading into Week 17, a total of 67 coaches' challenges had been denied after a replay review, with only 10 calls being reversed, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Payton suggested recently that the league should consider a group of three people to decide such calls instead of them being decided solely by the league's senior vice president of officiating, Al Riveron.
"You know, we don't have one Supreme Court justice," said Payton, who made his comments after the rule change cost the Saints in their previous meeting against the Panthers in Week 12.
