As the NFL deals with an unprecedented rash of criticism regarding the quality of its officiating, the league currently is exploring procedures to improve certain aspects of the process.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL is considering the possibility of providing officials with real-time assistance during certain games. The focus would be to assist the officials with administrative issues, not to correct bad calls made during plays. For that, the replay system would continue to be the safety net.
Under this approach, prime-time contests and other games being played beyond the 1:00 p.m. ET window would be candidates for extra attention. And the idea flows from the reality that league executives responsible for officiating are focusing on those games, noticing the errors, and currently powerless to do anything about them.
The counter to this possible approach comes from the reality that 1:00 p.m. ET games wouldn’t receive the same level of attention. This would create a competitive disparity between games.
The easy response would be to simply do it for all games. Which would be a great start, if the goal is (as it should be) to minimize any and all mistakes.