NFL eyes drastic change for officials amid lingering fallout from Chiefs-Bills fourth-down controversy

The NFL is eyeing a caller physics strategy for measuring archetypal downs without the usage of a microchip, according to a study successful The Washington Post.

The strategy would inactive trust connected quality officials spotting the shot connected the tract earlier the physics strategy measures if a first-down telephone is warranted. What's more, the projected strategy has already been tested successful crippled conditions, according to the Post.

DailyMail.com has reached retired to an NFL spokesperson for confirmation.

The study comes aft a controversial fourth-down ruling successful the Kansas City Chiefs' AFC Championship triumph over the rival Buffalo Bills.

Early successful the 4th quarter, the Bills were driving with a accidental to widen a 22-21 lead. But aft picking up 1 fourth-and-1 with a sneak, they tried different fourth-down conversion astatine the Kansas City 41.

Ultimately Allen was bottled up by the Chiefs' Nick Bolton astatine the enactment of scrimmage, and the Chiefs took possession earlier driving 59 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. But to galore fans – and CBS cameras – Allen appeared to person the first-down earlier being brought down by Bolton.

Unfortunately, determination is nary existent exertion being considered that would assistance find guardant progress. However, the NFL volition prosecute its Competition Committee connected exertion to instrumentality virtual line-to-gain measurements adjacent season.

The league tested Sony's Hawk-Eye tracking services for virtual line-to-gain measurements successful the preseason and successful the inheritance during the regular season. The optimal tracking strategy notifies officiating instantly if a archetypal down was gained aft the shot is spotted by hand.

The cardinal connection is 'after.'

This exertion replaces the concatenation measurement. The NFL has agelong utilized 2 agleam orangish sticks and a concatenation — the concatenation pack — to measurement for archetypal downs. That method would stay successful a backup capacity.

'What this exertion cannot bash is instrumentality the spot of the quality constituent successful determining wherever guardant advancement ends,' NFL enforcement Kimberly Fields told The Associated Press connected Friday.

'There volition ever beryllium a quality authoritative spotting the ball. Once the shot is spotted, past the line-to-gain exertion really does the measurement itself. So I deliberation it's astir apt been a constituent of disorder astir what the exertion tin and can't do. There volition ever beryllium a quality constituent due to the fact that of the guardant advancement conversation.'

Fields said an mean of 12 measurements took spot each week during the regular season. The caller exertion would've dropped the clip spent to measurement from 75 seconds to 35 seconds.

NFL balls person been equipped with Zebra microchips since 2017, powering the NFL's Next Gen Stats information product. The chips are besides affixed to players' pads. They supply assorted information and metrics that assistance clubs, media and fans with subordinate valuation and investigation of squad performance. 

But these chips can't find wherever a subordinate was tackled, whether a subordinate is down by interaction oregon which squad gained possession of a escaped shot to the precision indispensable for officiating use.