Officiating hasn’t exactly been perfect in the NFL this season, and Roger Goodell is finally acknowledging that reality.
The NFL commissioner answered questions about the current state of officiating, noting some of the league’s errors this season, and the future of replay reviews at the Special League Meeting in Irving, Texas, on Wednesday.
“I think our officials do an incredible job, but there’s always room for improvement,” Goodell said, via the NFL Network. “We’ve had some errors that we think we need to correct. Some of the things we’re discussing is how to do that, whether there are changes to replay, or to how we train or what we do on the field.”
There have been numerous questionable calls in recent weeks, including some on replay reviews, that have caused quite the stir around the league. Controversial replay reviews helped to decide the outcome of the Vikings-Ravens and Colts-Bengals games this past weekend, while other on-field controversies sprouted up in the Giants-Redskins and Patriots-Panthers games in recent weeks as well. With the issues in the replay booth, though, the NFL is considering making some changes to their current replay review policy, which Goodell intimated could mean moving all replays to a single central location.
“We’re going to look at everything,” Goodell said of the review system. “Our No. 1 focus is to make sure we’re providing the best officiating. We always think we can improve. Consistency is important. By bringing it into the league office on Sundays and having one person actually making that decision, you can make an argument there’s consistency.
“This is something the competition committee will be studying. It’s something we discussed with the membership. They’ll come back with a report, and we’ll make an adjustment from there.”
The competition committee will likely also look into what is allowed to be challenged this offseason, with Bill Belichick already making the case for option to use his challenges on any play, including penalties.
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