Rash of Steelers injuries shows need for NFL refereeing changes

Video Review

Refereeing will always be far from perfect, whether it’s on baseball, the NHL, the NBA, or the NFL. No referee is going to catch every little rule infraction. The athletes are big fast, and the pace of most games almost happens too quickly for the human eye.

In the NFL, for instance, some holding calls are up to judgment, a player can have his hands positioned in a way resembling holding, and they could be flagged. Sometimes getting the call right on whether a player fumbles or makes a reception can come down to the referee’s judgment right or not. Sure, a blown call can have a significant impact on the game and sometimes not. However, these are the calls subject to interpretation, and sometimes they are right, sometimes not.

To aid referees for some of these calls, the NFL gave them the option to have video replay just as the other leagues gave to the MLB and the NHL. However, except for baseball, which has no penalties like the NHL starting in 2019-2020 season changed their rules to allow a video review of major penalties. The NFL uses replay only for fumbles, receptions, and scoring but not for infractions.

However, other calls are too crucial for them to miss, and they should never miss them or should get them right at least. Calls such as leading with the helmet, roughing the passer, pass interference are too important for them to get wrong or miss entirely.