Just a week or two ago, it seemed near-certain changes would be coming to the NFL’s instant replay rules as a result of the fallout from last month’s NFC title game between the Saints and the Rams. But after visiting with a number of sources at the NFL scouting combine last week, the way we hear it, it is now better than 50-50 that the NFL’s 32 owners are unlikely to reach any consensus, let alone gather the 24 votes necessary to make changes to instant replay, and some folks might instead push officiating changes. Contrary to what many fans believe, there are a number of folks in the NFL, including Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who don’t believe instant replay is the answer to making the game better. By now you’ve probably heard the only change Gruden wants to replay is to “get rid of it altogether,” and he is not alone. Therein lies the concerns of a number of team owners, many among the “old guard,” if you will, that expanding the use of instant replay will have unintended consequences that could do more harm than good for the game.

Source: Daily Sun March 05, 2019 16:41 UTC