Revis's Interception Return Was Legit

On Monday Night Football last week Darrelle Revis intercepted a pass intended for Brandon Marshall on the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a TD.  At the time I though nothing more than, wow, nice play.  The catch was simple and the return didn't have any great moves or theatrics, but it was long and scored points.  I was shocked to hear Jon Gruden mention a missed pass interference call on Revis at the time, even after the slow motion replays, but I'm even more dumbfounded that analyst after the game were saying a flag should have been thrown on the play.  Since when is standing your ground a penalty?
The NFL is an offense powered league and the rules make playing defense very difficult.  Defenders aren't allowed to jam a receiver past 5 yards from the line of scrimmage.  Defensive backs can't make contact with a receiver past that 5 yard boundary.  Defenders aren't allowed to face guard a receiver while attempting to locate and catch a pass (face guarding is placing your hand in front of the face in order to restrict ones vision).  Defenders aren't allowed to grab or impede a receivers progress on a route by stepping in the path of a receiver and slowing them down without bumping or holding.  With rules this restrictive, and called more often than not, it is amazing to me that anyone can be a defensive back in the NFL and be effective on a consistent basis.  Revis is one of, if not the best in the game and his interception was clean.

The play in question starts with Revis manned up on Marshall.  At the snap Marshall avoids the jam from Revis by using an outside release and slapping his hands away.  Marshall is actually trying to run an inside route and wants Revis to overreact to the outside move and give him a clear window to get back inside.  Revis didn't bite on the outside pattern and was in great position when Marshall tried to come back inside.  Marshall didn't make good contact with his attempt to slap the hands of Revis away from his body and it caused Marshall to be off balance when he tried to get back inside.  Marshall was counting on Revis being more aggressive at the line allowing Marshall to actually grab Revis on the shoulder to get the inside leverage he needed on the play.  Since Revis played loose on the play Marshall wasn't able to plant solidly on his outside foot to come back to the inside.  This caused Marshall to stumble on that break and initiate contact with Revis.  As Marshall is falling into Revis there was contact between the 2 and a slight grab at Marshall by Revis.  This contact and "hold" on Marshall's jersey  were the only reason Marshall didn't fall flat on his face.  Then Matt Moore threw a terrible ball and the rest is history.

I hate it when people who are supposed to know this game better than anyone else watching blow an analysis that should set them apart from the rest of us.  Jon Gruden was right to say that he thought Revis got away with pass interference until after he saw the replay.  The replay clearly shows that Marshall initiated the contact with Revis and did so by running a terrible route.  Trent Dilfer then backed up Gruden's call during the half time show.  What video are these guys watching?  Revis got run into.  Though that has been called pass interference before, it isn't and it was a great no call by the official.  A missed call would have been throwing the flag and negating the interception.