Referees in the NFL have gotten noticeably and progressively worse over the past decade and the evidence to prove this is undeniable.
As an NFL fan for over 10 years, I’m familiar with the level of officiating that has been displayed in that time span. I’m a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs and there have been some questionable calls recently. The most controversial one I’ve witnessed was the Chiefs vs the Patriots in the 2018 AFC Championship game. Dee Ford, a Chiefs former defensive lineman was called “offsides,” but he actually wasn’t offsides. The Patriots offensive line was lined up too far into the field of play causing the line of scrimmage to not be in the right place. This killed the Chiefs defensive momentum they had going, and was the turning point of the game. As a result the Patriots won the game because of that call. I am certainly not the only one who witnessed this.
Another instance of blatant miscalls in the NFL came in week 10 of the 2024 season. The Bengals took on the Ravens for the second time, hoping for their first win but the referees stole it from them. After a Bengals touchdown to make the score 35-34, they went for a 2-point conversion to win but ended up not converting. Obvious defensive holding on cornerback Marlon Humphrey and roughing the passer/facemask on defensive tackle Travis Jones were two obvious penalties that determined the outcome of the game. They were blind to the situation.
Let’s go back a few years, to the 2019 Saints vs Rams NFC championship game where the referees changed the ruling of the call but not the call in game. That was Drew Brees’ last real opportunity for another ring but the referees ruined that for him. On an obvious pass interference call where Rams corner Nickell Robey-Coleman blatantly hit Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis before the ball arrived anywhere near Tommylee’s catching zone. In conclusion, after the Saints failed to convert in overtime to put away the game, the Rams drove down the field to score the go-ahead game winning field goal by their kicker Greg Zuerlein. Winning the game 26-23 Rams.
Coaches in the NFL typically like to stay “professional” and try not to put the blame on things out of their control. With the officiating as of recent years, that is not the case. Coaches are starting to come out and criticize the refs more. Both the AFC and NFC have had coaches such as Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, come out and say “let the players play, they decide the game they are playing, not the refs.” Team executives have also come out and called the modern day NFL officiating “broken” and “fractured with no fix.”
There is a fix with modern day officiating that I believe can be implemented as quickly as the NFL wants to.
The Hawkeye “computer vision” technology was introduced this year to the public in football, but this technology was originally developed in England in 2000 by engineers at Roke Manor Research Limited. It was Mainly meant for close tennis calls.
However, for football it is meant to correct the bad calls from human referees and replace them with correct calls from high tech cameras that use visual images and time data. Furthermore, according to NFL Football Operations the Hawkeye’s “smart system,” has super high zoom definition cameras that use “optical tracking technology.” This is also linked directly to the NFL headquarters in New York who review all calls and rulings.
The Hawkeye system is not going to fix every bad call. But it can be a step in the right direction. The only reason that the NFL says they haven’t implemented this is that sometimes the players might block the camera’s view on the ball. Even though this is possible, this is not a good enough argument from the NFL for them to not even try it. Pylons also have cameras and almost every time a call comes down to the Pylon camera, 99 percent of the time they get the call right.
This would fix miscalls overall and the Hawkeye is the new solution to the NFL’s new era of refereeing. To ensure the proper and fair treatment of every player, coach, game, and the sanity of NFL fans.
