The 2022 NFL season has been filled with plenty of drama as always, but also controversy owing to on-field officiating. Several examples of calls (or non-calls) made throughout the campaign could lead to significant changes this offseason.
Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports writes that the appetite for an increase in video replay could be growing relative to the past few seasons. Two options proposed in recent years include additional challenges being allowed during a game (or at least expanding which types of plays are made subject to review), and the addition of a ‘sky judge’ to assist officials. Support for the latter lost steam in 2020, though that offseason did see another attempt to increase communication between on-field and replay officials.
NFL EVP of football operations Troy Vincent said at the most recent owners meeting that there will be a “healthy discussion” involving the competition committee this spring. He added, however, his aversion to giving replay officials the ability to call fouls which are not made on the field, saying that such a development would not be “in the best interest of the game.” The support (or lack thereof) for significant alterations could come from the impact reviews make in the remainder of the campaign. Per the NFL rulebook, the 2020 and 2021 seasons were unprecedented in that they saw more than half of plays subject to review overturned.
Here are some other NFL housekeeping notes:
- Another matter which is likely to be discussed in the spring is roughing the passer penalties. Some owners expressed an interest in making it subject to review in the future during last month’s meeting (video link via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero). One important detail to be worked out in the event the league goes down that route would be whether or not replays become initiated automatically or via coach’s challenges; another would be the question of if roughing the passer could incur automatic ejections, an idea which was brought up in December. As Pelissero notes, however, trepidation is expected on all fronts due in part to the unsuccessful one-year experiment with making pass interference reviewable.
- Providing an update on the NFL’s international schedule for next year, EVP Peter O’Reilly confirmed (via Pelissero, on Twitter) that plans are currently in place to play three regular season games in London, two in Germany and none in Mexico City. That falls in line with the league’s stated plans for 2023 unveiled in the wake of the first ever game played in Munich. Renovations will prevent contests taking place at Azteca Stadium, but a return there in the future – along with continued expansion of the international series – should be expected.
What is the point of the international games? It seems very unlikely the league could ever expand to Europe.
Probably network money
Marketing the league in other countries leads to more fans, and thus more revenue
I have German friends and they love football, it is actually quite popular among Germans, more so than I’d say the other European countries.
I doubt the NFL expands to Europe any time soon but down the line I could see a division there.
How about the NFL make a New Year’s resolution. We make new rules that make sense. Not rules that are confusing or hard to interpret. For example roughing the passer. Falling on a QB should not be a penalty driving him into the ground should. Don’t make it hard for officials to figure out.
Same with contact to the head/neck area. Should be more in line with potential injury situations not some dude slapping your helmet or face mask like grazing you with his hands.
Roughing the passer cannot be grounds for automatic ejection with how inconsistently such a penalty is currently enforced. Not that team owners would ever agree to such in the first place
Start with more cameras and common views of boundary lines so available angles aren’t dependent on who is airing the game? And just let more plays be reviewable, it’s crazy when blatant blown calls can’t be fixed because not reviewable…
You would have the NFL emulate college football by having all plays subject to review. The NFL did that in the 1990s and that led to long drawn-out games which depressed the TV ratings.
The other proposal is great in theory but not in practice. TV networks will use fewer cameras for a game between two bottom-feeders compared to a game between two playoff teams.
When the league admits to game flow management to make as many games end within one score for business reasons….perhaps the officiating can be considered “real”.
The escalating cost of QBs will eventually require they have full protection from any contact at all. The technology already exists to make that happen. It’s based on the same principles as invisible fencing for dogs. Sensors are placed in the helmet of the QB and all defensive players. A proximity detector flashes when they are within the designated range. Play is blown dead at that point and the defensive team awarded a sack if the QB is behind the line of scrimmage.
One would think the NFL could figure out that when more than half of reviewed calls were overturned that there’s a problem… Gotta wonder what the percentage of non-reviewable calls that were made would be overturned if looked at more closely?
When more than half the reviewed calls are overturned it means either the officiating is poor or the league wants to manipulate the game result. In most cases I think it’s both.