Tag: first down

NFL to consider electronic first down measuring for 2025 after Bills-Chiefs

NFL to consider electronic first down measuring for 2025 after Bills-Chiefs

Did Josh Allen get the first down?

You know the play. 4th & 1, early-fourth-quarter, a QB sneak at a crucial moment in the AFC championship game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.

A lot of people have said yes, Allen did get the first down, and a lot of people have said no, also. One of the line judges had the ball spotted over the line to gain, and the other line judge had it marked short.

NFL on CBS commentators Tony Romo and Jim Nantz, as well as CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore, believed it was a first down. But, the ball was marked short, and there wasn’t a good enough camera angle to overturn the call on the field given the mass pile of bodies around the ball on the QB sneak.

The call marking Allen short of the sticks sent NFL fans into a frenzy. It didn’t help that the Chiefs had already been under a microscope because they benefitted from a couple of questionable calls against the Houston Texans the week prior in the divisional round.

The call by the refs that marked the Bills short has sparked not only controversy but also a reason to look into better ways of measuring first downs. Since the beginning of the NFL, it’s been a chain gang manually moving the first down markers and line judges doing their best to spot the ball where it was when the play was blown dead.

When the location of the point of the ball ultimately will decide who gets a trip to the Super Bowl, you want that spot to be as accurate as possible. Obviously, with it coming down to the eyes of an official moving laterally along the sideline, it’s easy to be off by a couple of inches.

This is where technology could come into play in the future, even as early as next season.

“The NFL will consider implementing an electronic system for measuring first downs during the 2025 season,” said Mark Maske of the Washington Post.”

The system currently under talks of potentially coming into play would involve the ball being spotted manually by officials before the electronic system determines if the spot of the ball is a first down. Some have suggested that electronic chips be placed into the balls to determine exactly where the ball was down, but that wouldn’t come into play here.

The NFL was experimenting with electronic first-down measuring in the 2024 preseason.

“Most likely we’ll continue the testing of that probably in more venues next preseason, just like we did this year,” said Walt Anderson, the NFL’s officiating rules analyst and club communications liaison, in August. “With the intent that at some point, assuming it can be tested and we get good returns on [that] testing, that we can implement that possibly for the ’25 season. That’ll end up being a decision that the competition committee addresses next spring and that [the team owners end] up entertaining for next preseason.”

As far as the testing itself went in the 2024 preseason, some of it was positive and some of it presented challenges.

“You certainly had some of them that went very smoothly,” said Anderson. “And then we had others where obviously there were some challenges. All of that is part of the learning curve. We’ll end up continuing to collect data [on] that. It’ll be a topic for the competition committee in the spring.”

WATCH: Chiefs TE Travis Kelce gets creative, combines with Noah Gray for first down

Travis Kelce combined with fellow tight end Noah Gray to pick up a first down in the #Chiefs’ Thursday night matchup against the #Broncos.

The Kansas City Chiefs are known for their high-octane offense that has yielded Super Bowl championships in recent seasons. Usually, head coach Andy Reid is the figure getting creative to help the team remain on the cutting edge in the NFL, but against the Denver Broncos on Thursday night, All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce was the innovative presence.

On Kansas City’s first drive on offense, Kelce caught a pass from Patrick Mahomes, and instead of cutting upfield, decided that fellow tight end Noah Gray should get the ball in space. After securing the reception, the former quarterback pitched the ball back to Gray, who ran for a first down to keep the Chiefs in rhythm.

Plays like this are a great example of why Kansas City’s games are must-watch television, regardless of any celebrities who may be in attendance week to week.

Watch for the Mahomes-to-Kelce connection to continue bearing fruit in this matchup.

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Pep Hamilton says early-down situations will be key vs. Titans

After improving on third down last week, Pep Hamilton wants his players to execute on first and second down against the #Titans.

The Houston Texans are going to have to take the road less traveled to get back to the .500 mark before the 2022 season ends, and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton laid out a simple strategy that may help the team stay out of sticky situations when his unit is on the field.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he fielded a question about his thoughts on how the offense handles first and second downs. In his comments, he made it clear that these downs are crucial to the team’s success on third down too, and can help set them up for success in key moments of the game.

“It’s always important to have a high level of execution on early downs to stay out of obvious passing situations as often as you can,” Hamilton said. “Depending on the opponent, we just have to find ways to incrementally move the ball and try and avoid third down altogether. Our goal is to not have a third down. But if we do, we want it to be a situation where we feel like the defense is going to ultimately have to defend the run and the pass.”

The Texans can’t afford to become one-dimensional on offense. They have a burgeoning ground game behind the strength of rookie Dameon Pierce’s fierce running style, and if quarterback Davis Mills can continue improving his abilities as a passer, the unit may become a strength of the team in the near future.

Hamilton will have to maximize all of the available talent at his disposal against the Tennessee Titans in Week 8, and won’t have much of a margin for error against such a challenging opponent. Watch for these early-down situations to play a big role in the outcome of the game, and for Houston to get their second win of the season if they can navigate them properly.

The Vikings are fantastic on early downs

The Vikings have had a lot of success on early downs

The Minnesota Vikings have some real inconsistencies on offense. Kirk Cousins has seen the entire spectrum of outcomes. He has had one really good game, one really bad and one with shades of both.

The major concern with this team is the inconsistencies within it.

Outside of a really good first half against the Packers, the Vikings offense hasn’t had one half without any major issues. One of the positives that has rang true across the first three weeks is their success on first downs. The Vikings are first in the NFL in getting a first down on first down with 34% and on early downs (first and second) with 6%.

The Vikings have implemented a more pass-heavy approach and have utilized a lot of simple play-action concepts to get easy yardage. That has translated to success. A three-week sample size with a large dud against the Eagles is a great sign moving forward for the Vikings.

Washington’s offense struggled badly on 3rd downs vs. Cowboys

An outstanding look at some of Washington’s 3rd-down woes from its loss to the Cowboys. As Ivan says, Washington must be better on earlier downs.

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“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia”.

For those old enough or you watched in subsequent decades Brady Bunch reruns, you instantly recognize the iconic line.

That’s how I often feel when hearing fans and analysts speak of third downs in the NFL. “Third-down offensive conversion rate”, third-down defensive conversion rate. Third down, third down, third down.”

During the four-game winning streak, Washington controlled the line of scrimmage, and ran the ball, and kept the clock moving, and their opponents’ offenses OFF of the field. Yes, they also saw improvement in their third-down conversion rate on offense and defense.

I hear many fans today parroting how third down is the most important down in the NFL. I do agree, you have to perform on third down to keep the chains moving on offense or force the opponents’ offensive unit off of the field.

What type of third downs did the WFT face in the first half, against Dallas?

Third-and-8 — then a delay of game sunk it to third-and-13.

Third-and-10 — resulted in the Randy Gregory tipped and intercepted pass.

Third-and-6 — an incomplete pass, saved by a roughing the passer penalty.

Third-and-7 — Heinicke to Humphries for five yards, then on fourth down was sacked, fumbled and Dallas was up 18-0.

Third-and-8 — Heinicke again sacked by Parsons (-9 yards).

Third-and-6 — Heinicke pass incomplete (Adam Humphries).

Third-and-15 — Heinicke deep pass incomplete (Cam Sims).

End of Half: Dallas 24, Washington 0

And there you have it, each time in the first half the WFT offense faced a third-down, not once was it five yards or less. NOT ONCE.

Often when I hear so much emphasis on third down ad nauseam, I rebelliously utter, “Third down? What about first down? Wouldn’t better first-down balance and execution, result in improved options for third-down conversion as well?” Or perhaps even avoid some third downs altogether?

Perhaps in Ashburn this week, an emphasis should be first-down creativity, balance, execution?