We recently mentioned the two proposals the Rams have made in the aftermath of the wacky two-point conversion that helped decide a game that helped determine the outcome of the entire season.
As to the proposal aimed at the protracted delay in the replay review that turned a ruling on the field of an incomplete pass into two points for the Seahawks, the Rams have suggested a hard time limit for the initiation of a booth review as to all calls that fall within the exclusive purview of the replay assistant and/or the league office (i.e., plays during the final two minutes of the half and overtime, turnovers, scoring plays, and conversions).
Here’s the full language of the Rams’ proposal regarding the initiation of a replay review, which PFT has obtained: “To amend Rule 15, Section 1, Article 2, to require a replay official to initiate a review of a play with booth review jurisdiction within 40 seconds after the play is ruled dead or before the next legal snap or kick, whichever occurs first. However, if a game administration matter reasonably delays the replay official’s ability to evaluate the play, then he/she may initiate the review after 40 seconds but before the next legal snap or kick.”
The first part of the proposal looks fine, and the exception seems to be fair on its face. However, the exception possibly creates a safe-harbor excuse that could be used to initiate any replay review beyond the 40-second limit. To be as consistent and effective as possible, there needs to be a clear, bright line — enforced by a clock in the replay booth and in the league office that can only be delayed or paused if/when there’s a legitimate and genuine “game administration matter.”
The mere presence of the exception demonstrates the practical difficulty of having a clear and unmistakable 40-second limit. Which will likely make it hard to get 24 votes in favor of an arguably arbitrary impediment to getting the call right.
In this specific case, the delayed initiation of replay review (which, as PFT has reported, was sparked by a call from Prime Video rules analyst Terry McAulay to NFL rules analyst Walt Anderson) led to the objectively correct outcome, based on the current rules. It would be unfortunate, to say the least, if a clear and obvious error were not rectified simply because it wasn’t noticed within 40 seconds.
The better approach could be to establish a firewall between the internal replay mechanism and the rest of the world. No outside calls or texts or other communications until the replay review has ended, or until the next play has started. That’s the proposal we would make, since it would force the NFL to have the best possible in-house methods for noticing any potential mistakes, without someone not employed by the league flagging the issue or otherwise weighing in.
The league should be expected to get these things right, with the resources the NFL has at its disposal. If those resources aren’t good enough, the league needs to pay for better resources.