NFL: Upon Further Review, League Needs To Expand Replay System

Imagine you are the coach of an NFL team. It's late in the second quarter, and your team is behind by two or maybe even three scores.

Your team, though frustrated, is not out of the game yet. You wonder, "If my offense can only score in these last two minutes before halftime, then we can go into the locker room with momentum and try to mount a rally in the second half."

As the kickoff soars to your return man, you pray for a good return. All of a sudden the ball is loose. "Fumble, fumble!" are the cries on the field. Your optimism turns to despair as you see the opponents return the fumble for the touchdown.

Dejected, you ask your coach in the box, "Is there any hope his knee was down?" The coach replies, "Challenge the play! Challenge the play—his knee and elbow were down! Challenge the play!"

As you reach for the red flag, your defensive coordinator comes up to you. "Coach," he says, "we don't have any timeouts. We cannot challenge the play." Despair turns to doom.

Many of us have not been in that situation, but we have seen it as fans. If your observation has been keen, you will notice the above situation is not hypothetical. It is in fact the same situation that faced Wade Phillips on Sunday night. As he watched Nick Collins return the fumble for a touchdown, he could only think to himself what might have been had he only possessed one timeout.

To many this was just another reason to show that teams must be prudent with their use of timeouts, even in the first half. But to others this showed that the replay system in the NFL must be fixed.

As the MLB postseason was taking place, many sports talk hosts and columnists commented on the horrible officiating of MLB umpires. Most, if not all, columnists and commentators mentioned how this postseason would prove that baseball needs expanded replay.

Now think back to games of your favorite NFL team. Think about the times where the opposing team has made a key catch, conversion or stop. Think about those times where you as the fan said, "Challenge the spot!" or "Challenge the catch! Replay clearly shows the call is incorrect!"—only you find out your team can't challenge the play because you have no challenges left or you are out of timeouts.

Ever been there? Cowboy fans have as recently as Sunday night.

The NFL was a groundbreaking league when it first introduced the use of replay to help officials; however, the NFL has not advanced in replay usage while other sports leagues have.

Take college football, for example. Each coach is given one challenge, but all plays are subject to review, meaning a play can be overturned if it has been determined the accurate call was not made on the field. So why doesn't the NFL use this policy?

Some would say the NFL needs to be different. Others would say NFL games are long already; adding replay would only lengthen the games.

No matter how you argue, the integrity of the game is at stake. If the NFL prides itself on fairness and accuracy in officiating, why shouldn't they adopt a new policy on replays? The BCS has shown the football world that expanded replay is not only good for the game; it also makes games more competitive.

Technology exists for replay to be a key component in the accurate officiating of games. The NFL just needs to start taking advantage of it.