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A Change To The NFL's Replay Review Is Probably Coming

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Dec 15, 2024 1:29 PM ET

NFL officiating rules analyst Walt Anderson said permitting replay assist on face mask penalties is "on the table."

Officials missed a blatant face mask call on Joe Burrow during Monday night's game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys. It's a concerning trend, as Sam Darnold had his face mask yanked on a play that resulted in a critical safety earlier this season.

During an appearance on NFL GameDay Morning, Anderson admitted officials missed what should have been a face mask penalty against the Cowboys on Monday night. He turned his face away from the screen during a virtual interview to explain that the refs "just didn't see it."

When pressed for a solution, Anderson said the competition committee will discuss expanding replay assistance on facemasks and other plays after the 2024 season.

"What we're gonna end up doing is taking a look at a lot of plays," Anderson said. "What are some of the things that, real quickly, we can help the officials with seeing? Because we first got to be able to determine, is it for sure a clear and obvious foul? Which this is. This is a clear and obvious facemask foul penalty that we missed."

Anderson said the league has made more plays eligible for replay assists in each of the last four years. He predicted that the streak would continue this offseason.

"I would imagine that they'll be things added for next year to further help the officials," Anderson said.

Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent also said earlier this week that the league could expand replay assist to review face mask penalties after Monday's "big miss."

"We would like to consider -- or for the membership to consider -- putting that foul category that we can see, putting that on the field to help," Vincent said. "Because there is a frustration. We believe that is one category that we can potentially get right."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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