National Football League

Controversial Bills spot raises question: Should NFL footballs have chip technology?

Updated Jan. 28, 2025 8:31 p.m. ET

Play-by-Play Announcer, Reporter and Studio Host

Editor's Note: Throughout the NFL playoffs, Chris Myers and his research team analyze upcoming matchups, while providing news, notes, and nuggets for inside access to the information an NFL broadcaster uses to prepare for calling a game.

Three days later, and we're still talking about the fourth down early in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs where Josh Allen was deemed to have failed to reach the line to gain on his quarterback sneak.

First, some thoughts on the play:

* While important, the call was not game-determining. If awarded the first down, Buffalo would have had a first down at the Kansas City 40, up 22-21, with 14 minutes left. Let's say the Bills kick a field goal for a 25-21 lead with 11 minutes left. Based on how the actual game unfolded, with Kansas City making most of the key plays, who can say the Chiefs would not have prevailed?

* It never should have been fourth-and-one. Dalton Kincaid, on third down, dove without his knee touching to at least the stripe. The side official on the Buffalo sideline — line judge Jeff Seeman — marked him back about a foot.

* The line to gain has been said to be "the stripe." After a touchback, the front end of the ball is placed against the beginning of the stripe. But these chains were set after a play, a fourth-down Josh Allen leap. And, it appears that the tip was on the far end of the four-inch wide yard line (and in this case, four inches is important).

* On fourth down, Seeman, on the Buffalo side, appeared to be walking in for a spot near the far end of the stripe. The official from the Kansas City sideline — down judge Patrick Holt — to whom Allen's back was turned, appeared to overrule and the spot drifted to Holt's right, short of the line.

* Even with the final spot, never clearly shown by CBS, but you can see it on replays, the ball appeared to be on the CBS line to gain which straddled the yard stripe. Unless it happened during the break, the officials never measured it with the old-fashioned stakes. An explanation from FootballZebras.com: "The line to gain was a major line (Kansas City's 40). The ball needed to penetrate the plane of the 40 for a first down. There's no need to measure when a stripe is involved). But, as we said, the stakes were not set after a touchback, there should have been a measurement to establish the exact location of the yard to gain."

* To avoid fumbling, Allen tucked the ball against his body, denying officials a clear view of it. But the top of his body against which the ball was touched eventually broke the line. You would have to believe that Allen had the ball behind his torso to come up with the spot eventually chosen.

* The NFL has yet to offer an explanation of the process that did not overturn the spot on the field.

There are those who wonder why the NFL does not use "science" to determine the location of the ball. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com is among the most vociferous.

"It's time. It was already time. It's definitely time now.

The technology exists to do it right. The only question is whether the NFL will make the leap — and write the check.

The ball needs to be equipped with digital components that will allow for an exact measurement as to whether a player scored a touchdown or, as it relates to Sunday night's AFC Championship, whether a first down was gained."

However, there are issues with a digital chip, especially when 99 percent of the time, the exact location of the ball is not really at issue. But when it is at issue, as with Allen's sneak, we need it to be precise.

So we wrestle with the idea of a chip, presumably in the middle of the ball and the yard to gain being achieved by the front of a football five-to-six inches forward. Can they calibrate it so that if the chip gets to within five inches of the electronic first down line, it registers as a first down? But on the other hand, in some instances, such as the big play Sunday, the ball might not ever get flat in the ball carrier's hand.

Two chips, one at each end? Is that feasible?

We note that the CFL had a chip on some of its footballs — and removed it when kickers complained about its effect on their kicks.

What also needs to be taken into account is the combination of location and time. A spot is not supposed to be the furthest point a ball carrier pushes the football. It is the location of the ball at the instant that the player's knee (or other body part such as an elbow) strikes the ground. And, as FOX Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino has told us, that calculation hinders chip technology for spotting unless it was somehow tied into the exact time the player is down.

That has led the NFL to go down the road of Hawk-Eye Technology from Sony, which relies on an array of cameras and is widely used in soccer and tennis. Hawk-eye Technology actually was founded for use in cricket, and their website shows soccer balls on goal lines and tennis tracking.

It was heralded last summer as being ready for NFL implementation, but it did not happen due to problems with outfitting all NFL stadiums with the full contingent of cameras in appropriate, calibrated locations.

There also were some questions about how long it was taking to process the information to get a decision.

But, apparently, those issues are being resolved. Gary Brantley, Chief Information Officer of the NFL, recently said: "For 2025, we'll be measuring the first downs just through technology."

You can hear Rufus Hack, CEO of Sony Sports, discuss that and other applications here.

So, barring another instance in the upcoming Super Bowl, this entire discussion of spotting and chain gangs and replay challenges may be moot. Only, to be replaced by possible discussions of glitches in the skeletal data in the Sony Sports matrix.

Chris Myers is an Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer, reporter and studio host for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @The_ChrisMyers.