Bills Central

Would potential new first down measurement process have impacted Bills in AFC championship game?

The NFL is considering using optical tracking cameras to help officials with first down calls next season. Will it help eliminate the poor spots that marred the AFC Championship game?

Brian Letscher

NFL referee Gene Steratore calls a 1st down. 2014.
NFL referee Gene Steratore calls a 1st down. 2014. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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It's no secret that there were several highly questionable spots in the AFC championship game between the Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, including two separate misses on a crucial Bills fourth quarter drive that ultimately failed and led to Kansas City sealing the game.

So it doesn't seem to be coincidence that the NFL is considering using new technology to aid with first down measurements in 2025, as reported by the Washington Post.

The system, which the NFL has been testing for a couple years, will use optical tracking cameras to precisely measure whether the football has crossed the line and gained a first down.

However, the key word there being "measure". There will be no actual chip in the ball which tells the officials exactly where to spot it. That, as it's always been, will be left up to the humans in the striped shirts. The technology simply measures whether the spot they chose amounts to a first down. Essentially, it just eliminates the "chain gang" running onto the field to pull it tight and see if a team is moving forward.

first down
Oct 28, 2021; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Detailed view as NFL referee measures the football for a first down with yard markers. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

So while the new technology may eliminate the need for the dramatic chain gangs measurement, the on-field officials will still be making the call as to where to put the ball. Something that Bills fans -- and many across the league - would like to see improve.

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Brian Letscher
BRIAN LETSCHER

A Michigan native, Brian graduated from the University of Michigan in another century, where he earned a degree in economics and a Rose Bowl Championship ring while playing football for the Wolverines under Head Coach Gary Moeller. Brian went on to coach Division 1A football for several years before becoming a full-time writer and actor while maintaining an unhealthy interest in sports. He is currently developing a scripted television series, THOSE WHO STAY, based on a series of historical fiction articles he wrote about Bo Schembechler's Michigan football program as they struggle to unite and win the championship - which requires beating #1 Ohio State - during the tumultuous civil rights and anti-war movements of 1969.

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