The NFL is about to increase the use of technology in its officiating.
The league will continue testing an electronic system for measuring first downs during preseason games this summer, two people familiar with the deliberations said last month during a two-day meeting of team owners. That could lead to the system being used in regular season games as early as the 2024 season.
The NFL will also expand its use of instant replay as an officiating tool next season. The league will give replay officials a larger role in assisting on-field officials with certain objective aspects of penalties for roughing the passer, intentional touches on the ground and late hits out of bounds.
The league and the NFL competition committee are not prepared to go as far as some coaches have attempted in recent years. John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens, Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs and other coaches previously pushed for an “air judge” system, in which an official stationed in the press box at each game would be authorized to use instant replay to override any errors. call made in the field. The NFL continues to resist that, but is getting a little closer to it.
“For us, this is where replay attendance can come,” Rich McKay, Atlanta Falcons CEO and competition committee chairman, said at the league’s annual meeting in March in Orlando. “The concept that Coach Harbaugh and Coach Reid pushed and that we talked about years ago, was the idea of the sky judge, right? We have always rejected that the game has to be refereed on the field. You just have to officiate it on the field. There are too many things happening. But we like the concept of it and the idea that replay assist can play a role in getting calls right. And this is just one more step in that.”
The sticks and chains system for measuring first attempts is not yet about to be retired. The 10-yard chains are expected to remain on the sidelines at least as a backup system even after the electronic system for measuring first downs comes into use in the regular season.
The NFL has said it tested optical tracking camera technology to determine the gain line last season in games in Miami Gardens, Florida, and East Rutherford, New Jersey, and in the Super Bowl. Those tests are expected to continue in preseason games this summer. If all goes well, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions, the electronic system could be used in regular-season games starting in September.
Others wonder if it will take until 2025 for the system to be ready for regular season use.
“We have to make sure it works properly in all stadiums,” said another person familiar with the matter.
The human element will remain in the first down process, as referees on the field will continue to manually detect the ball at the end of each play. For example, a chip on the ball will not be used to electronically determine whether a runner reached the first down marker.
But once the ball has been detected, a measurement will be made virtually at the NFL’s officiating center in New York, using optical tracking cameras. Line-to-win software can accurately calculate the position of the ball on the field and determine if it has reached the spot needed to achieve a first down.
The competition committee outlined the expanded scope of input for the replay official on plays where a flag is thrown for roughing the passer, intentionally touching the ground or hitting out of bounds in its report given to teams at the March meeting. . The report said the committee recommended after “thorough examination” that the replay assist system could be used to assist on-field officials on those plays.
“The replay official or the Officiating department staff cannot order on-field officials to place a flag during the replay attendance process in any of the above situations; “It will only be used when a foul has been called on the field,” the committee said in its report.
NFL leaders and competition committee members have always been cautious about making subjective decisions reviewable through replay. They made an exception when the owners voted to make pass interference and non-calls reviewable for the 2019 season, after the infamous uncalled pass interference in the NFC Championship Game that allowed the Los Angeles Rams instead of the New Orleans Saints reaching the Super Bowl last season.
That move resulted in widespread complaints from players, coaches, media members and fans about how the interference replay system worked, and owners abandoned the rule after one season. Some league leaders have cited that failure while opposing later proposals to make subjective decisions reviewable.
But the NFL has gradually given the replay official more freedom to assist on-field officials on objective matters. This will be the case of the new directives.
On a play where a flag is thrown for a late hit out of bounds, the replay assist system can be used to determine “whether a runner was out of bounds when the officiating crew penalized the defenders,” the team said. competition committee. the report said. If the replay shows that the runner was “clearly in bounds,” the penalty would be voided.
On a play where a flag is thrown for roughing the passer, the replay assist could be used “when a defender’s contact with the quarterback’s head or neck area was the only criterion used by the referee that threw the flag,” the report says. . If there is “clear and obvious video evidence that the defender did not make any contact with the head or neck area,” there would be no penalty.
The replay official can also assist in an intentional grounding penalty by advising officials on the field about the objective considerations of whether the quarterback was in or out of the pocket, and whether the quarterback was in imminent danger of being captured due to the proximity of the defender.
“We put objective rules there,” McKay said in March. “…If the defender is not within two yards…it is not an intentional penalty. You can go back and throw the ball wherever you want. You simply can’t throw the ball when a sack is imminent and you decide to throw it. … So we wanted to bring those two aspects back into replay attendance.”
The competition committee hopes the new system will make intentional ground calls more accurate and efficient.
“When you look at the decisions on the field and then you look at the decisions we didn’t make right, (the suspension) was a tough decision,” McKay said. “This was not our best decision because there are many elements and it becomes a penalty for the team. I mean, you’ll literally always see that the referee has to go in there. He’s going to bring a linesman. He’s going to take down a judge. They’re going to talk about it. In this case, we just like the person in the ear to be able to say, “Yes, he was in the pocket” or “He wasn’t.” And then, if you need to help with something else, you only help them where we said you could: with the objective results.”
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.