THE NFL has made a flurry of rule changes this offseason that will affect the way the game is officiated.
Among those changes is the expanded presence of technology helping officials make calls throughout games.
The NFL has expanded replay assist for officials in the 2025 season[/caption]
This year’s changes gives replay officials more scenarios where they can pick up flags thrown on the field.
NFL rules analyst Walt Anders sat down with The U.S. Sun to explain what this change will look like on the field.
“This is not about replay creating penalties,” Anderson said.
“This is when the officials make a decision, they throw a flag, it’s clear and obvious, and there are objective criteria that shows it was an incorrect call.
“We can have the officials pick that up.”
Anderson shared that the NFL has slowly expanded replay assist over the past few seasons.
“We started this a couple of years ago with picking up some penalties,” Anderson said.
“Ineligible receiver downfield was the first one we worked with because it’s easy to determine the position of a player relative to the line of scrimmage.
“Last year we added, as an example, if there was a hit to the head of a quarterback that was call, but in fact a player hit him in the shoulder or in the chest, we can pick that up.”
It started with just a few penalties and has slowly expanded to include things like hits to the head and facemasks.
“For this year we’ve added quarterback slides,” Anderson said.
“If the official threw a flag for hitting him in the head, but in fact there’s not contact, then we can pick that up.”
“If the officials throw a flag for a facemask, and it’s a common occurrence that the collar is grabbed and the helmet is turned and it looks like a facemask, but it’s really not a foul we can pick that up.”
The goal of the change is to help officials get more calls right and to give fans a better viewing experience.
“Why can’t we help the officials with that?” Anderson said.
“That’s what this is about.”
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The expanded replay assist still doesn’t include calls like roughing the passer and pass interference.
However, the expanded use of cameras in the game will now assist officials with first down calls.
The NFL has introduced Hawk Eye technology to measure first downs without the need for the chain gang.
“The officials still have to spot the ball,” Anderson said.
“All the virtual measurement will do is replace physically bringing the chains on the field.”
The NFL will likely continue to expand its use of technology on the field more and more in the future.
