Pass Interference? Yes.

In today's games, there were a couple defensive penalties called on pass plays that the announcers did not like, one on Seahawk Andre Dyson and one on Patriot Asante Samuel. What the announcers failed to realize is that, in each case, the defensive player impeded the progress of the receiver while not attempting to make a play on the ball. Redskin WR Santana Moss faked the post and went for a corner route, only to have Dyson move in front of him and block him because he did not want to get beat for a touchdown. It was equivalent to a blocking foul in basketball, attempting to prevent a driving player from getting to the basket. Dyson did what he wanted, he prevented a Moss TD; Moss would have run right by him if they had not collided. In the Patriots v. Broncos game, Asante Samuel rides Ashley Lelie out-of-bounds. Sure, the defensive player has a right to the spot just like the offensive player, but only if he is going after the ball. Lelie was running straight for the ball and Samuel wasn't. The reason Lelie had to put his hands on Samuel (this apparently offended ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury) was because Samuel was attempting to shield Lelie from the ball by moving into him. If someone encroached on you, wouldn't you try to get a little space for yourself? I understand that shielding receivers from the ball is a common practice of defensive backs, but that doesn't make it ok. As hard as it is to believe, the refs got these calls right.