NFL Replay Official Rules

Since 1999, the National Football League has had a system in place to use instant replay to review officials' rulings on the field. Video equipment set up in a booth on the sidelines allows the referee to get a better look at what happened and correct erroneous calls. Coaches can request replay reviews, but they can only do so a couple times a game, and they need to think strategically because if they're wrong, they'll lose a time out. Is this play worth reviewing?

  1. Initiating Review

    • In an NFL game, each team's head coach has two "challenges" that he can use to call for a play to be reviewed using instant replay. He challenges a call by throwing a red flag onto the field. However, in the final two minutes of each half and in overtime, all replay reviews are ordered by an official stationed in the press box; coaches cannot issue challenges.

    Referee Review

    • The game referee--the leader of the officiating crew--is the sole judge on replay reviews. He watches replays from all available angles. To overturn a ruling, he must see "indisputable visual evidence" that the call on the field was wrong.

    Decisions

    • If the referee determines that the ruling on the field was incorrect, the coach "wins" the challenge, and the referee arranges the game as if the correct call had been made--moving the ball to a new spot, for example, or awarding the other team possession of the ball. But if the referee upholds the ruling on the field, the coach "loses" the challenge, and his team is penalized with the loss of a timeout. Because of this provision, a coach cannot challenge a play if he is out of timeouts. If a coach wins both of his challenges during a game, he gets a third challenge. Even if he wins the third challenge, he doesn't get a fourth.

    Time Limits

    • If a coach, or the press box official, wants to call for a review, he must do so before the next play begins. Once the ball is snapped, the previous play can no longer be reviewed. Once he goes into the sideline booth, the referee has 60 seconds to review replays. If he can't make a decision within that time frame, the ruling on the field stands.

    Reviewable Plays

    • Plays involving field boundaries are reviewable--whether a player was in or out of bounds, and whether the ball crossed into the end zone for a touchdown. On passing plays, replay can be used to determine whether a receiver really caught the ball; whether a pass went forward or backward; whether a pass was touched illegally or tipped by a defender; and whether a pass was legally thrown. Other reviewable situations include whether a runner was down before fumbling, whether a ball carrier achieved a first down; and whether a team had too many players on the field.

    Non-Reviewable Plays

    • Penalty calls are generally not reviewable, nor is the status of the clock or the proper down, field position if a first down is not at stake, rulings of "down by contact," which is a judgment call that stops a play in progress, or initial fumble recoveries (which player had the ball before others piled on). Instances in which an official blew his whistle inadvertently are also not reviewable.