Lots of rule changes, too. One can watch a slow motion of a called play three or four times at varying angles, close up, before it becomes clear - if then. Officials have to move quickly. It’s a tough job.
The official ALWAYS are going to determine the winner. An incorrect non-call is just as much the officials deciding the game as an incorrect call. Suppose a team trails by 4 in the last 10 seconds of a game. They have the ball 4th and goal at the 5 yard line. A pass is thrown to an open receiver in the end zone, but a defender blatantly tackles the receiver well before the ball gets there. Isn’t the official deciding the game if he DOESN’T throw the flag? Should he not make the call so that “the players can decide the game”?
The rules are the rules. They are the same in the last minute as they are in the first quarter. A late hit out of bounds that would be penalized without any question in the first quarter (such as the hot on Mahoms) should likewise be penalized in the last minute. The timing is irrelevant.
Yes, plays are reviewable, but some are not reversable, like offensive holding which happens nearly every play to some extent, different referees call it more closely than others, which leads to accusations of the game being rigged, same goes for defensive holding, DB’s routinely rough up WR’s especially close the line of scrimmage, sometimes it’s called sometimes it’s not and it’s not reviewable or reversible.
These gray areas are where referees could influence the outcome, I don’t think it’s happening but I could see how people think it is.
The methods of the Chiefs are illegal re blocking by receivers on passing plays. They practice “walling off defenders” and do it better than any other team. This should be called, but it isn’t. Far from making the game fun, it makes it like basketball, boring as hell. Go back to the rules of the 1970’s and get rid of this stupid modern era with one swipe of the screen. I hated Montana being creamed by the LB and wiping out his elbow. I loved the pace, the violence and the drama. Mahomes, Wilson and the other running QB’s couldn’t even start when the game was real, if they did they would last 3 seasons max.
I think it was the first touchdown that would have been overruled but they hurried to get to the next play thus negating the ability to challenge it. Or it might have just been a particular play. I can’t remember. Announcers were talking about it after it happened.