After the Buffalo Bills’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship included a questionable ruling that QB Josh Allen was short of the sticks on a QB sneak attempt, there’s been a lot of discussion about the NFL putting an electronic chip in the football to track the spot. While the league isn’t considering a chip, they are considering using an electronic system to measure first downs, according to a report by Mark Maske of the Washington Post.
Per Maske, the system would still require referees to spot the football, and then the electronic system would rule whether the spot resulted in a first down. It wouldn’t prevent situations like what happened in the AFC Championship Game, as the ball was still spotted short of the line to gain.
“The system, which the NFL has tested in game conditions in recent seasons, would involve the football being spotted manually by the on-field officials before the electronic system would determine whether that spot resulted in a first down. That system requires such a manual placement of the ball following a play and does not incorporate, for instance, the use of a chip in the football to determine whether a runner reached the first-down spot.”
The USFL used similar technology when the league launched in 2022, and it sounds like it’s only a matter of time before the NFL uses similar technology.
There will likely be more testing of the system before it’s implemented, but it could go into effect as early as next season. Masks adds that the chains that are used to mark down and distance would still remain on the field, so despite incorporating electronics, the chain gang would remain.
The system would function out of the NFL’s officiating center in New York, as the tracking device uses optical tracking cameras that would precisely measure the football’s position on the field, per Maske.
With technology advancing, the NFL has tried to implement ways to be more precise when it comes to officiating, and this would be the next step in that. The league added replay assist in 2021 to have additional officials at the NFL’s officiating center help the on-field officials with plays that can be quickly viewed on video, and they expanded the replay assist rule in 2024 to assist with roughing the passer, late hits and intentional grounding.
Expanded replay assist has drawn a mixed bag of reviews, as there are still clear and obvious penalties, especially in regards to roughing the passer, that haven’t been called. Adding electronic measurement would take some of the human element out of officiating, and while the chain gang would remain, it would help make spotting the ball and first-down rulings more precise and accurate, which is never a bad thing.
