Is it pass interference if you get your pants pulled down before the ball arrives?

It’s a question that actually came up during Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers.

With the Eagles trailing 10-0 late in the first half, backup Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee targeted tight end Dallas Goedert on a deep pass into the end zone from the Carolina 25-yard line. Goedert flopped to the turf with what appeared at first glance like little to no contact from Panthers cornerback Will Lee and drew a flag.

The CBS broadcast team of Ian Eagle and Ross Tucker was perplexed at the call. But replay revealed some contact not seen on an initial look — and a bit more of Goedert than Goedert intended to show of himself on TV.

As Goedert broke toward the sideline on his route, Lee grabbed a hold of Goedert’s pants and tugged them down just enough to expose Goedert’s backside.

Tucker was in the midst of criticizing the call when replay revealed the minor wardrobe malfunction.

“What? They called that pass interference?” Tucker proclaimed as the pants tug was revealed. “I mean, if anything, I think it would be illegal contact on pulling his pants down before the ball was in the there.”

Tucker may or may not have been right about the ball being in the air. It was a long pass from McKee, and it wasn’t clear from the broadcast shot if the ball was in the air or not when the pants tug took place.

It was also initially unclear if officials flagged pass interference for the pants tug or the ensuing flop job from Goedert as the ball arrived.

But they spotted the ball at the 3-yard line — close to where the pants tug took place — instead of at the 1-yard line for contact in the end zone, where Goedert flopped. It appears that the pants tug was the culprit.

Two plays later, Dameon Pierce ran the ball in for a 2-yard touchdown to get the Eagles on the board. And Goedert, a fan favorite in Philadelphia, took one for the team in a manner that he surely didn’t see coming.