https://sports.yahoo.com/roger-goodell-responds-to-ridiculous-theory-about-officials-helping-chiefs-010318875.html
NEW ORLEANS — As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dismissed claims that the league is unfairly helping the two-time defending champions.
Is there any truth to concerns that officiating is swinging in the Chiefs’ direction?
“That’s a ridiculous theory, for anyone who might take it seriously,” Goodell said Monday afternoon from the Superdome home locker room in his annual state of the league press conference. “It reflects a lot of the fans’ passion, and I think it also is a reminder for us how important officiating is. And I think the men and women that officiate in the NFL are outstanding.”
Goodell cited the Chiefs’ 15-2 regular-season record instead as a sign of competitive balance in the league due to repeated games they won by just one possession. He said the league is evaluating officials’ performance on the field as well as their personal lives to limit bias in the enforcement of league rules.
“Things that go on in their own lives, and we have a very tight control over that,” Goodell said. “We monitor that very closely in a number of ways.”
Late-game comebacks and wins defined the Chiefs’ season, including in the AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills. Controversy engulfed a fourth-down attempt in the fourth quarter, when officials deemed quarterback Josh Allen short of a first down. The measurement once again ignited questions about why the NFL doesn’t use ball-tracking technology to determine first downs rather than human imprecision.
Goodell said Monday that such technology “is complicated” to implement, in part because first downs and touchdowns are measured by the placement of the ball rather than the ball carrier and the football’s oblong shape could register different readings. The NFL has tested some tracking technology in preseason games as well as in other leagues en route to the goal “that technology will exist some time in the future.”
“That’s exactly why you test it,” Goodell said. “To sort of see the accuracy of it, No. 1. The reliability, No. 2. Because you have to be right when you do it, ultimately. And so I think technology is advancing at such a pace that we obviously incorporate that into our game, but you really need to test it, make sure your data is right, and then implement it when you think you have it right.”
The NFL has implemented replay assist at increasing rates and could add face-mask penalties to its array of jurisdiction next, Goodell said. Replay-assist technology has the benefit of more angles than on-field human officials, who have “got to make a snap decision,” he said.
“I think we have been more transparent that when we make mistakes on the field, we say it,” Goodell said. “We’re not afraid to do that, but there’s so many times there’s confusion or [people] don’t understand the rule, and that includes people on television, too. I think that’s something we continue to work on to communicate better, educate better, but also to use technology.”
While the NFL’s competition committee will assess several facets of officiating this offseason, Goodell believes players “flopping” — feigning a harder hit or more serious injury than they realistically absorbed — has “not been a significant issue for us.”
Would NFL consider flagging players for flopping? Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t think the problem is significant enough to warrant that, but competition committee could consider it pic.twitter.com/EeTRgEWMGZ
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) February 3, 2025
Add that to the group of issues low down Goodell’s list of priorities. Rigging games for the Chiefs is there, too.
“This sort of reminds me a little bit of the ‘script,’ right?” Goodell said. “I write a script, and I have the script for the entire season. A lot of those theories are things that happen on social media and take on a new life. As you say: It’s not your theory, but it’s out there. Nobody wants it to be their theory.
“I’ve never seen a more dedicated group of people than our NFL officials to getting it right, to doing the best job they possibly can.
“They have the highest possible standards.”
https://sports.yahoo.com/roger-goodell-responds-to-ridiculous-theory-about-officials-helping-chiefs-010318875.html
