Arkansas Bengal Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 NFL morning after: Marvin Lewis shows NFL needs new replay rules Posted by Michael David Smith on December 1, 2014, 6:15 AM EST AP In the final minute on Sunday in Tampa Bay, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis did something he wasn’t supposed to do. Something that probably saved the game for his team. Lewis threw the red challenge flag. Coaches’ replay challenges, as those of you able to keep up with the NFL’s convoluted replay rules know, are only permitted in the first 28 minutes of each half. In the final two minutes of each half (and in overtime), replay reviews are initiated by the replay assistant, who pages the referee on the field if there’s a close call that needs to be reviewed. But after the Buccaneers completed a long pass to get into position to kick a game-winning field goal, Lewis threw his challenge flag anyway, in violation of the rules. Lewis, it turns out, had noticed something that the officials on the field didn’t: The Bucs had 12 players on the field on the play in question. Lewis wanted to be sure the referee would review the replay, so he threw his challenge flag just to delay the game, even though he knew that he couldn’t initiate a challenge. Lewis figured that even if he couldn’t officially challenge, he could draw attention to the fact that the play needed to be reviewed. Sure enough, the play was reviewed, the Bucs were assessed a 12-on-the-field penalty that knocked them out of field goal range, and the Bengals held on to win the game. Lewis acknowledged after the game that under NFL rules, he’s not supposed to throw the challenge flag in that situation. But he said he knew the officials had missed a big penalty on the Bucs and had to do something to draw the referee’s attention to it. “I couldn’t challenge it — I should have just called timeout and made them look at it,” Lewis said. “But obviously, that’s a big, big miss.” NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino said after the game that the replay official was on top of it and the play would have been reviewed regardless of Lewis throwing the flag. And maybe Blandino is right. But that doesn’t change the fact that the NFL’s rule is dumb: Coaches should be allowed to challenge a bad call at any time. At this year’s NFL meeting, Patriots coach Bill Belichick made a proposal to do exactly that: Belichick wanted to change the rule so that everything is reviewable. All sorts of penalties that currently aren’t reviewable — from holding to personal fouls to pass interference — would be reviewable under Belichick’s proposal, and coaches would be allowed to challenge in the last two minutes of each half, just as they can challenge in the first 28. It’s important to remember that Belichick’s proposal would not increase the number of replay delays. Coaches would still be limited to two challenges per game, with a third challenge allowed if the first two were successful. It would just eliminate the arbitrary limits on the types of calls that can be challenged, and the times during the game when a coach can challenge. Belichick was voted down, but his proposal was a smart one. As Lewis showed, sometimes a coach knows the officials missed a potential game-changing penalty, and at those times, the coach ought to have the opportunity to initiate a replay review. The NFL should remove all of the limits on what coaches can challenge and just make the rule that coaches can challenge whatever they want, whenever they want. If a replay shows indisputable visual evidence that the call on the field was wrong, and if a coach thinks it was big enough mistake that it’s worth using up one of his challenges, he should have that opportunity. All of a sudden, the Bengals are overwhelming favorites in the AFC North. All season, the AFC North has looked like the NFL’s most competitive division, with no clear favorite. But after the Bengals won to improve to 8-3-1 on Sunday, while the other three teams in the division all lost to drop to 7-5, it’s undeniable that the Bengals are the favorites. Thanks in part to a heads-up use of the challenge flag by Marvin Lewis. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/12/01/nfl-morning-after-marvin-lewis-shows-nfl-needs-new-replay-rules/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Lucid| Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 I completely agree with Bill's proposal.. Do away with the arbitrary limits on challenges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enon Bengal Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 pass interference needs to be reviewable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino said after the game that the replay official was on top of it and the play would have been reviewed regardless of Lewis throwing the flag. Bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enon Bengal Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 could last week's offsides on the pick six been reviewable under the current rules? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khatmandude Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 could last week's offsides on the pick six been reviewable under the current rules? No. The rules need tweeked. Speaking of tweeked, wheres' my ganj? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted December 1, 2014 Report Share Posted December 1, 2014 NFL needs to go to a smaller simpler rule book for on field during the game enforcement. Then use video to review the game afterward for safety/targeting/head shot infractions. Human Refs can't keep up with all the details of each and every rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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