I’m ready to red flag the NFL’s red flag
- col-dave-mast
- October 28, 2023
- 387
I’m throwing the red flag on the red flag.
For several years now, NFL head coaches have had the ability to challenge a play that they felt was incorrectly called by officials, whether it be a pass caught or not caught, an incorrect spot, a fumble, or several other scenarios.
A coach has the ability to use two of these in a game, and if a coach gets the first one right, they are awarded an additional one.
That’s all fine and dandy, and coaches have judiciously used these challenges by tossing a red challenge flag onto the field.
Now my issue with the red flag challenge isn’t in the challenge itself. I like the idea of a coach being able to challenge a call and have the call made correctly.
No, my angst comes from the situation that arose during the Pittsburgh and Los Angeles game on Sunday, Oct. 22 in L.A.
In that game Rams head coach Sean McVay did the responsible thing in using his timeouts to stop the clock late in the game as his team tried to make a defensive stop to get the ball back and try to tie the game.
As time wound down, the Steelers moved the ball into L.A. territory, and on fourth and a couple, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett tried a sneak over the left side of the line. He slipped in the backfield, and officials spotted the ball where they felt Pickett had landed.
Instant replay showed definitively that Pickett’s slip and lunge had left him a foot short of the first down marker, but alas, because McVay had used all of his timeouts, he didn’t have a challenge left.
Oddly, that play came with 2:12 left to play. Had the play taken place under the two-minute mark, the spot would have been automatically reviewed by the replay official.
And here is where the heart of my disconsolation with the NFL lies.
With a ton of cameras covering just about every angle possible during every single NFL contest, the league has the ability to see every play from many different angles.
In my opinion, the hope of the NFL should be to get as close to every call correct as possible, especially game-changers like this one.
So why in the world wouldn’t the league simply allow the eye in the sky to take over in reviewing all calls in a timely manner and make the call to the crew chief when they deem something should be changed?
Why limit a coach to three possible challenges in a game when the ideal purpose would be not to get two or three calls that were called erroneously corrected, but to get as many as possible?
The NFL has all of the technology needed to make expert judgement calls without impeding the progress of play. The only job for the eye in the sky guys is to watch each play and impede only when there is an errant call.
In this case the eye in the sky official would have signaled an official’s timeout and informed the officials of the true spot of the ball, thus giving the Rams at least a chance to go down the field and score the tying touchdown in the final minute of play.
Instead, the Steelers kneeled a couple of times, and all Los Angeles players, staff and fans could do was repeat the same mantra that has been going around for years … “We got screwed.”
Old-school people will say, “Hey, it’s all part of the game.”
Yeah? With that attitude and the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality, we’d still be wearing leather helmets, the center would be snapping the ball to the quarterback by kicking it back to him with his heel and forward passes would be illegal.
The truth is everything is in place for the NFL to put technology to good use and make the game better, more consistent and better for everyone.
Sure, the coaches can still have their red flags to make sure they get their say, but the eye in the sky guy would be quickly reviewing every play. I don’t think this would slow the game down at all, but it sure would make life more bearable for teams that got hosed like in this one.
While you couldn’t review every hold penalty — because that happens every single play in some form or fashion — they could get more calls correct, and isn’t that what should take place?
The NFL isn’t alone in this scenario. Major League Baseball also should take a cue and simply go to the automated strike zone instead of having umpires like Angel Hernandez calling balls and strikes like he’s taking a stab at it while blindfolded.
It’s about getting things right, and in sports, when you have the chance to do so, you shouldn’t have to think very hard in making it happen.