NFL Expected to Innovate Review Systems Next Season
Coming off the massive football controversy that has engulfed the massive ending in the AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, the NFL has hinted at the possibility that they will be upgrading their review systems heading into the next season to avert all those controversies in the long run.
In a crucial fourth quarter, the Bills were trailing with time winding down, and Buffalo’s Josh Allen seemed to have gained a first down after coming up with a quarterback sneak, however, the officials would go on to place the ball just short of the line. The replay was unable to show that Allen indeed got the first down, which led to the costly turnover.
Kansas City would go on to score a touchdown after five plays and earned a one-score lead, eventually winning the game 32-29 to pursue its third Super Bowl win in a row. The NFL, on the other hand, has taken drastic steps to ensure that this would not be a questionable call and provide both fans and players with the best review options possible.
The Need for a Review Upgrade
Even before the season, the NFL was already eyeing to come up with a different technology that would help them innovate the league’s review system. Rumors of an optimal tracking system were already in place, and it seems that the league would be planning to implement it starting next season.
"The whole effort was to begin taking a look at it, to see what worked, what didn’t work,” NFL officiating rules analyst Walt Anderson told the Washington Post last August. "You certainly had some of them that went very smoothly, and then we had others where obviously there were some challenges. All of that is part of the learning curve. We’ll end up continuing to collect data on that. It’ll be a topic for the competition committee in the spring."
For years, it has been revealed that there is a coin-sized chip in the NFL game ball. However, it was not used to measure the first downs and spot the ball considering the fact that the placement of the football isn’t the only thing considered in determining if the line to gain was reached.
That chip, however, would have been a huge boost combined with optimal camera tracking in finding out the real result of the play in discussion. But with the obstructed view limits and the pile of bodies that come after, it does seem that it would be hard to actually make a huge call at that point.
NFL’s Lack of a Promising System Review
Play reviews in sports have always been crucial in determining key plays in various leagues. For instance, the NBA has already deployed various systems to review plays, even having a review center in Secaucus. The ATP Tour deploys a ball tracking system to determine if it was in or out, and the European soccer leagues use VAR (virtual assistant referees) to help determine offsides, key calls, and many more.
With the NFL being one of the biggest leagues in the world, it does seem that there’s more to expect from the league with its high earnings and massive budget. However, they will need to fund a technology that would be able to spot the ball or at least measure the first down, it would be a massive game-changer that can elevate the NFL for the years to come.
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