No More Chain Gangs? NFL Might Finally Enter 21st Century
For far too long, the NFL has stubbornly refused to join us in this century when it comes to their continued use of chain gangs. Despite having access to much better technology, they still measured first downs with a group of people holding two poles with a 10-yard chain.
So any time there is a close play, they needed to drag the chains onto the field to measure the distance as if it was still 1984. It does sometimes make for great drama, as they drag the chain over and everyone holds their breath. Then there is a small gap, the ref does the hand gesture to show there are a few inches between the ball and the pole, and the defense goes wild.
But is that little bit of theater worth measuring 1sts downs in such an archaic and inefficient way?
Are Chain Gangs Being Replaced?
Thankfully, chain gangs may soon be a thing of the past. The NFL is experimenting with “Hawkeye” technology during some preseason games that will be able to measure if the ball passed the line of scrimmage. If that process is smooth, we could eventually see it in games.
It is not new technology. Other sports have had similar tech for years now. Soccer has it to help them tell if a play was offside. Tennis uses the exact same Hawk-Eye technology to measure if a ball is out. As does cricket, badminton, and volleyball. The NFL has had access to this for years. They were just slow to catch up.
No, instead they kept using the new technology known as index cards. Yes, in case you forget, the NFL once actually used an index card to see if there was any space between the ball and the chain. That was not something that happened in the 80s, it happened in 2017 in a game between the Cowboys and Raiders.
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The NFL Already Has The Technology
The NFL uses tech in other ways. They use GPS tracking to measure how fast players were on any given play. They already have chips in the ball to help spot the ball and to measure if it crossed the goal line. But for whatever reason, until now, they have refused to even consider ditching the chain gangs and go with something far easier, and far more accurate.
The way it works is officials can just place the ball, and the Hawk-Eye tech can instantly determine if it was far enough for a 1st down or not. No more lugging out the chains, and no more games being delayed because someone wrapped the chains too tightly and they can’t untangle them.
That is also a thing that happened. In the playoff game between the Eagles and Giants a couple of years ago, the first set of chains malfunctioned, and the backup set was wrapped so tightly that the game had to be delayed.
For now, it is only a trial. They will use it in a few pre-season games, and we will see how it goes. We likely won’t see it in games until the 2025 season at the earliest, and even then it may at first be used in addition to chain gangs.
We aren’t done with them yet, but we are inching closer. Soon the NFL may actually act like we are in the year 2024, and not 1984.
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Is The Eagles Schedule Favorable? 9 Numbers You Need To Know
12
Case in in point, the Eagles change Time Zones 12 times all season. That includes only 4 road trips total where they leave the Eastern Tim Zone. Brazil, New Orleans, Cincy, and LA. They stay on the East Coast in the other 13 games. And every time they do leave the east Coast, it is only for 1 game. So no long road trips out in the West this season.
Only the Chiefs change time Zones fewer times than the Eagles do this season. Per Sharp Football Analysis.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
4
On the topic of rest advantage, they only have 1 game where they have a rest disadvantage of more than a day. Meanwhile there are 4 games where they have a rest advantage of more than a day. Not playing any teams off the bye helps that. But they also have only 1 Monday Night Game, and they don’t play any teams coming off of a Thursday Night game.
(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
