NFL admits it has no idea how to solve biggest refereeing issue that benefitted Chiefs

The NFL is the most popular sports league in North America and growing quickly around the world. With all that attention (and loads of money) it would only be natural to assume the league would have the resources to implement as many efficiencies in the game as possible to avoid controversy.

However, for as much technology that's been developed to make the game easier to officiate there are still several problems that haven't been fixed.

For example, during the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 26 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen appeared to reach the line to gain on a fourth down quarterback sneak but the two line judges could not agree on where the ball was at the end of the play.

Replay review determined (somehow) that Allen did not reach the 40-yard line despite multiple angles appearing to show that he did. It created a whole new level of discourse from fans online surrounding the issue of officiating benefitting the Chiefs in big moments.

Many have suggested that every NFL ball should have microchips installed at the tips so that the spot of the ball isn't just left up to the flawed nature of eyeballing every play. However, according to Rob Maadi of the Associated Press, the league will not be implementing that kind of technology to address the issue of spotting the ball.

NFL will use new tech to fix the wrong problem in ball placement

The NFL is instead planning to vote on using Sony's Hawk-Eye tracking services for line-to-gain measurements which was tested in the preseason and in the background during the regular season this year. It still intends to employ human determination in spotting the ball on every play.

"What this technology cannot do is take the place of the human element in determining where forward progress ends,” NFL executive Kimberly Fields told Maadi on Friday. “There will always be a human official spotting the ball. Once the ball is spotted, then the line-to-gain technology actually does the measurement itself. So I think it’s probably been a point of confusion around what the technology can and can’t do. There will always be a human element because of the forward progress conversation.

So, basically the well-known "chain gang" will be replaced by technology but it won't take a tough task off the plate of already busy referees mid-game. This may solve one problem but it could create more if human error continues to contribute to bad spots and, therefore, incorrect measurements by this new technology.

At the very least it's a step forward in trying to get the calls right on the field. Although, as with any highly-scrutinized competition, there's bound to be problems with any new solution and fans will be on the lookout for anything else they can complain about online.