NEW ORLEANS – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday that the league will continue to look at ways to help on-field officials accurately spot the football.
In their AFC championship game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 27, the Buffalo Bills had two spots – on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter – go against them. The Chiefs won, 32-29, and face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen dives over the pack but comes up short of the first down in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs in the AFC championship game on Jan. 26.
“We tested it in the preseason this past year about being able to use that technology,” Goodell said. “It is complicated. Obviously, you have a lot of inhumanity that interferes with (getting the call made) potentially from a camera angle standpoint. But you also have the shape of the ball that is different and it’s about where the ball is, not where individual is, necessarily.”
Goodell said it is critical for the NFL to have a tuned-up system to help officials spot the football before unveiling it.
“That’s exactly why you test it,” Goodell said. “It’s not unusual to test technology in the preseason to see the accuracy of it and the reliability of it because you have to be right when you do it. I think the technology is advancing at such a pace, but you have to really test it and make sure you have it right.”
The Buffalo News was not selected to ask Goodell a question during his 40-minute news conference about back-to-back iffy spot calls that went against the Bills in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs game and if the league office deemed those the correct spots.
The plays in question occurred consecutively early in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 22.
On third-and-3 from the Chiefs’ 43, quarterback Josh Allen threw quickly to tight end Dalton Kincaid, who appeared to gain the marker (40-yard line). The official along the Buffalo sideline – line judge Jeff Seeman – marked Kincaid short.
On Thursday, Bills coach Sean McDermott was asked if he considered challenging the Kincaid spot (the Bills had already lost a challenge) or at least get a measurement. The Bills, though, chose to go fast on the fourth-down play.
“I’ve already spoken with the league about it,” McDermott said. “The hard part for a coach in that situation – we’re in the fourth quarter and we held three timeouts. I didn’t really want to use one of those because, sometimes, spots are a little wonky in terms of how that is going (to be called). … I thought it was important for us to have three timeouts.”
On fourth-and-1 from the Chiefs’ 41, Allen was stopped. The Chiefs took over and needed only five plays to move 59 yards and take a 29-22 lead. Seeman appeared to mark Allen as reaching the first-down line, but the official on the opposite side – Patrick Holt – clearly marked inside the line to gain. On the CBS telecast, rules expert Gene Steratore believed Allen reached the line, “by a third of a football.”
“I feel like (Allen) got that and I still feel like he got that,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. “I felt that in the moment and nothing has changed my mind on that.”
For 18 games (16 regular season/two postseason), Allen was nearly automatic on third-and-1 (13 of 14) and fourth-and-1 (8 of 8) keepers. But against the Chiefs, he was 1 of 3 on third-and-1 and 2 of 3 on fourth-and-1.
Does the league need to address the spotting of the football?
“I do think the league is constantly looking at (upgrades),” Beane said. “I think where our league struggles sometimes is we don’t have a minor league. The pitch clock in baseball, they tried that in the minor leagues before they ever brought it to (Major League Baseball). Our minor league is mainly college football, which has some different rules. … I don’t have a clear solution, so I’m not griping about it.”
Goodell was asked if the NFL’s officiating favored the Chiefs, and if he was concerned.
“It’s a ridiculous theory for anybody who might take that (narrative) seriously,” Goodell said. “Listen, a lot of those theories are things that happen in social media and they get life. It reflects the fans’ passions and it’s a reminder for us how important the officiating is. The men and women who officiate in the NFL are outstanding.”
