Report: NFL tested technology to track 1st downs during games including Super Bowl
 

Really? They better ****ing R&D that shit some more.

It’s pretty hilarious that they still use chains lol

They have been.

Should be easy to put sensors in the nose of the football and see how far the nose achieved on each down.

Difficult part would be to make sensors that could handle the abuse of the football including kicking it.

Didn't seem to help late in the game when they shorted KC on spots several times down the stretch.

The technology is pretty shitty if they used it in the Super bowl. We must have had at least 5 instances where they spotted us short.

A small chip inside a soft air filled football cushioning it should not be difficult at all. I've had fitbits, earbuds, and other various electronics take far more of a beating falling multiple stories, bouncing off concrete and working just fine. I imagine the biggest force a chip inside a football would face would be when the kicker clanks an extra point off the upright.

Too bad Mythbusters is not still around to look into the matter.

I think they were just "using" the tech to compare how the humans fared. They weren't actually using it to spot the ball.

It doesn't tell the refs where to spot the ball, only if it is a first down based on where the refs decide to place it.

We also have to remember the NFL uses two different footballs for kicking and regular offense. It wouldn't really be necessary to have a chip in a kicking ball would it?

It's already done in English and other countries soccer balls. They are kicked repeatedly and blast of goal posts, peoples heads and stand walls. It should be already be used in the NFL

That sounds logical.

What good does a sensor in the ball do if the guys knee is down and then the ball crosses the line?

A little microphone that amplifies the "DOINK" sound when it hits the upright would be kind of cool.

Which seems like an easy thing they could have done years ago. I'm not all that familiar with what tech they're planning to use here, but it'd be pretty easy to put a laser in the first down marker and turn it on when they need to make a "measurement" rather than taking 2-3 minutes for the chain gang tome out and do their thing.

LMAO - or the whiff sound when a ball sails wide right

But can it survive this guy?

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Can we put a chip in them? :p

That's even more reeruned. A "technical innovation" that will pinpoint exactly where the 70 year old geriatric referees determine the ball should be placed. If you're going to use tech do it properly and take out the refs being ****ing blind and stupid factor instead.

I have yet to hear how anyone thinks a chip in a ball can tell you when (or if) a player's knee was down.

I think its kinda like did the chip in the ball pass the invisible first down line - that way there is no doubt about a first down and we don't have to wait for the chain gang to make a measurement. I'm sure this is the first step in what is sure to be more accurate spotting of the ball. We just aren't quite there yet with tech to be able to determine "when" the ball is down. Which is actually interesting to think about in this scenario with a runner being down but having the ball cross the 1st down plane.

It'll eventually done by the 3d imaging and mapping shit you have in "soccer" for the automated offsides.

Lasers can be hacked

that seems kinda....pointless?

like how many first downs are taken away or given because the chains were put in the wrong place?

lasers

Or they'll make everyone wear suits with sensors. This is the chiefs game day gear in 2027, as modeled by CEH.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/s...UJnIY&usqp=CAc

I thought about a sci-fi story that featured football that was reffed by advanced technology. The players had suits with sensors all over them that could determine who is in possession of the ball, illegal contact, forward progress... and so on. The technology probably isn't that far away but the cost, I imagine, would be very high.

Put sensors in the players knees...

Dear MLB, umpires and strike zone are next.

And their elbows? And their shins? And their asses?

I don't get why people don't understand this. It eliminates the need for a chain gang and the time it takes to bring them out on the field to measure.

Put em everywhere

I thought Chain Gang was Yung Joka's rap posse.

The critical 4th down run by Mahomes shouldn't have even been necessary. Im glad it all worked out the way it did though.

You also have to put sensors on every part of the ball too in that case. A sensor just in the middle of the ball does no good. This is another case of people thinking they have the solutions to something while really not even thinking about the complexities of it all.

How well does it work with deflated footballs? :)

It's part of the show. Every time they run the chains out they zoom-in on dopey fans and the coaching staff. It's entertainment...But I think they could probably create some kind of machine-learning model that can gauge (with greater than 98% accuracy and low probability of false association) the exact spot that a player goes down. Wouldn't require geo-transmitting chips. Just cameras. And I'd bet that they could perfect it to where they wouldn't need nine thousand cameras everywhere. And if I had to guess that's what they're already doing.

It's criminal that they and MLB still use pre historic ways to officiate games

I actually prefer the old school way of having the refs decide. It adds to the variability and human element of the game, plus gives us something to complain about and the challenge flag, etc.

However.

If I was a tech billionaire I'd be working on developing a two-way sensor mesh like a fabric. Put it in the uniforms, put it in the lining of the ball, put it under the turf like carpet padding. Then all that stuff is sensored and trackable: knee down, ball nose location, incomplete pass touched the ground, etc.

You'd still have to have the chaingang though at least holding the markers. It would yeah eliminate the measurement but do they **** it up all that often? Bad spots fall on the ref and this doesn't change that. It might save some time over the course for the game but shit you know that's just gonna be more commercials