Another Bills playoff loss, another seemingly related rule change. Per Charean Williams of NBC Sports, the NFL’s senior vice president of football operations, Kimberly Fields, claimed this week that the league will begin using “technology for virtual line-to-gain measurements” in 2025. Officials will still spot the ball, and the chain gang will still exist as a backup. 
While discussions of the use of this type of technology have been ongoing for years, a line is naturally going to be drawn between this rule and a Josh Allen fourth-down quarterback sneak that was ruled short of the line to gain in the fourth quarter of the Bills’ AFC Championship loss to the Chiefs. Similarly, the NFL passed a rule change three years ago that ensure both teams possession of the ball at least once in overtime of postseason games following a Bills’ divisional-round loss to the Chiefs during the 2021 season.
The new Hawk-Eye tracking services from Sony were reportedly tested in the 2024 preseason and “in the background during the 2024 regular season.” The technology does not track the ball to determine if the ball crossed the line. An official is still needed to spot the ball and replay assist will confirm the accuracy of that placement. Once the spot is determined the tracking system will optimally notify officials if a first down was reached instantly.
The setup requires that six cameras be used for the virtual line-to-gain technology, along with 12 boundary-line cameras and 14 Hawk-Eye’s SkeleTRACK cameras that “monitor more than two-dozen skeletal points on a player’s body.” Using the technology behind the scenes last year, the league reportedly “saw a reduction in the time it took for a measurement” from 75 seconds on average with the chain gang to 30 seconds on average with the new technology.
In order to accommodate and implement the system, all 30 NFL stadiums, as well as any international stadiums where NFL games will be played, will be equipped with 32 cameras each. With the additional cameras, there theoretically should be increased and improved replay angles, as well. The league will continue testing the system this spring during UFL games played in NFL stadiums like Detroit’s Ford Field.
Rob Maaddi, a senior NFL writer/insider for the Associated Press, broke down a few additional rule changes being explored this offseason. First, Maaddi reported claims from NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent that there’s a “universal consensus” in doing something to keep the concept of onside kicks in the game. Unfortunately for advocates of a fourth-and-X option to keep possession, there hasn’t been much conversation on that exact concept, though discussions may occur next month.
Another Maaddi report shows Vincent claim that there’s “no appetite” from the Competition Committee to utilize video replay to throw a flag. Replay assist expansion is under consideration for 2025 to pick up incorrect flags thrown for plays like roughing the passer, unnecessary roughness, facemask, tripping, illegal crackback block, horse collar tackle, etc., but if officials miss an obvious facemask or other penalty replay assist would not be able to enforce the penalty. While teams could still propose such a change, there doesn’t appear to be any traction in that direction.
Meetings next month will allow for further discussion on these topics down the line, but for now, Williams and Maaddi have given us some valuable insight into the direction in which the league and Competition Committee are headed. We’ll keep an eye on the development of these ideas as they continue to move forward.
I’m sorry, are you implying that a big stick attached to a big chain operated by a couple of guys doing their best isn’t technology?
“And here’s our referee for todays game, Alexander Graham Bell”
I keep seeing people claiming that cameras and computers aren’t good enough to call balls and strikes or determine first downs.
OK, fine, then stop telling me they can drive my car.
Let’s see them get this right first.
Have you ever watched tennis? The Grand Slam tournaments use the Hawk-Eye system on line calls to determine whether the ball is in or out. NFL is adopting Hawk-Eye as a formal version of the first down line you see on game telecasts.
They need to take this one step further. Place a chip in each end of the football. Then you can electronically place the ball and check for a first down. I can’t stand when the ref either gives a horrible placement or there is such a scrum (say on a qb sneak) that there’s no way a ref can properly place it.
Of course, this is unnecessary if you’re 6 yards short of a first down, but should be implemented if you’re within 1/2 yard of the first down. All the ref needs is a buzzer…first down or not. They don’t need an EXACT placement.
This is a start, though.
Easier said than done.
The Bills biggest problem was the play call, they kept getting stuffed up the middle but refused to try misdirection,
and Josh Allen only going left.
A rule change I’d love to see concerns overtime games. I wish the NFL would adopt the same system that they use in college. College OT games are exciting, IMO, and I think would be the same in the NFL.
I’d prefer a rule that requires a team to go for a 2 point conversion if it would give them the lead if successful. That would reduce OT games. Of course this will never happen because OT gives sponsors more opportunities to sell us things we don’t need.
Y’all want NFL games to drag on for 4 hours and longer. The NFL doesn’t need college rules for OT games — it’s bad enough that the colleges have adopted the 2-minute warning.
My main gripe with college football is that there are far too many games where one team is a 28 point favorite or more. I can’t see how that actually benefits the development of players on either team. I would scrap the conference setup completely and create a series of tiers. Most fans prefer close competitive games not one sided massacres where the outcome is a foregone conclusion by halftime.
If a game is entertaining, I’ll gladly watch until the end, regardless of how long it takes. If the game is not entertaining, I look for something else to watch.
dougdeb@ another rule change caused by that crybaby Bills team.
Aided and abetted by the White Male Sportsball Media whose worldview screams “It’s All About The Quarterback!”
Want to win NFL games? Play defense for once.
I propose the NFL initiate “talking goalpost” technology. It would be fun to hear stuff like “How could you miss that extra point dude?…I think you just lost your job”.
I love how no one wants to address the fact that Allen’s QB sneak was one of the most dreadfully executed sneaks I’ve ever seen. They didn’t do it the way they normally do it, it was rushed and a desperation play on Allen’s part. If they lined up and actually did the sneak the way they’d done it all year, it’s an easy first down. This was a mental breakdown on the part of the Bills and everyone wants to cry about the spot. Tell me how a team who does the “tush push” statistically more successfully than the Eagles got stopped on that play? It was AWFUL execution and the talk should be way more about that then the spot