The NFL has a plan to institute an electronic system to measure first downs for this upcoming season, with the chain crew remaining on the sidelines as a backup.
A need for an electronic marker of first downs came back into the forefront after a late-fourth-quarter run by Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was marked short of the line to gain during the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Multiple replays appeared to show Allen making the necessary progress in a pile-up of over a dozen bodies despite the call going against him.
The NFL has measured first downs by hand for its entire history with officials holding the ball in place while planting yard-markers into the turf.
Other sports, such as soccer, have relied on VAR to make close calls, with interruptions to games occurring alongside making sure decisions are correct.
No other big-four sports league has adopted a digitized way of making decisions. The NBA, NHL, and MLB all use video replays to make officiating decisions, which the NFL already utilized.
The NFL has a plan to institute an electronic system to measure first downs for this season
The need for an electronic system came up after the Bills-Chiefs’ conference championship
More to come.
