The Pittsburgh Steelers have been at the center of some questionable calls throughout the history of the organization. In recent memory, the Jesse James "drop" against the New England Patriots stands out the most. The NFL is constantly trying to improve the product that it puts out on the field, which means improving certain procedures in the officiating process. Referees are constantly being questioned for their decisions during games, and the league has to do something to make a difficult job a little bit easier for officials. The NFL plans to take steps to do that during the 2025 season.
AP Photo / Jack Dempsey
NFL referee Clay Martin Signals towards one side of the field while announcing a penalty.
Officiating in the NFL is a touchy subject as of right now. The Kansas City Chiefs are set to appear in their third consecutive Super Bowl, and they were the beneficiaries of some questionable calls. The NFL has made player safety a priority over the last decade, which means officials are relied upon more than ever to throw flags at the little things. While worrying about things like roughing the quarterback or hitting a defenseless receiver, the referees shouldn't also have to worry about spotting the ball and whether or not the ball carrier got to the line to gain.
Utilizing technology in the footballs to help with spotting the ball has been suggested for years, and the NFL tested it out a little bit during the preseason in 2024. The technology that was tested was actually optimal tracking cameras, and that is expected to be implemented in 2025 if testing goes well once again during the preseason. This was reported by the Washington Post, who spoke with Walt Anderson, the NFL's officiating rules analyst.
"The whole effort was to begin taking a look at it, to see what worked, what didn’t work." Anderson said. “You certainly had some of them that went very smoothly. And then we had others where obviously there were some challenges. All of that is part of the learning curve. We’ll end up continuing to collect data on that. It’ll be a topic for the competition committee in the spring.”
It seems like the likelihood of this being implemented is fairly high, especially after the fourth down fiasco that occurred during the AFC Championship Game between the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. Bills quarterback Josh Allen attempted a quarterback sneak on fourth and one, and he was ruled short on the field and once again in replay, which was a very controversial call.
CBS
Bills' Josh Allen attempts a controversial quarterback sneak during the AFC Championship Game.
Ruling Allen short on fourth down had serious implications, as it cut the Bills' drive short and the Chiefs were able to put points on the board and win the game. The optimal tracking cameras could be brought in during the 2025 season, and they could have changed the call during the game which likely would have put Buffalo in Super Bowl LIX. Anderson continued to speak about the new technology being implemented in 2025.
"Most likely we’ll continue the testing of that probably in more venues next preseason, just like we did this year, with the intent that at some point, assuming it can be tested and we get good returns on testing, that we can implement that possibly for the ’25 season,” Anderson said. “That’ll end up being a decision that the competition committee addresses next spring and that [the team owners end] up entertaining for next preseason.”
This kind of technology can eliminate a lot of controversy in the NFL moving forward, and the mishap between the Bills and Chiefs has likely rushed the process for the NFL. The specifics of these cameras are unclear, but look for them in the 2025 preseason.
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Steelers' George Pickens celebrates after scoring against the Washington Commanders in 2024.
Steelers Had A Fourth Down Controversy Of Their Own During The 2024 Season
During the Steelers victory over the Washington Commanders in the 2024 season, the game came down to one final drive from Washington. They were down one point, and they were faced with a fourth down. Quarterback Jayden Daniels hit tight end Zach Ertz, and Ertz landed right on top of the line to gain. He wound up being ruled short, and Pittsburgh went on to win. There was some slight controversy regarding the final decision.
The tight end was likely short of the line to gain regardless, but who knows what the new technology would have decided. These are the types of decisions fans should keep an eye out for moving forward.
What do you think about the new technology coming for the NFL? Let us know in the comments below!
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