When the NFL teamed up with Hawk-Eye Innovations to introduce a new interface for replay reviews for the 2021 season, one hoped it would shorten delays by generating instant access to every available camera angle -- meaning dozens of feeds and not just what the broadcast can provide. As it turns out, the league has curtailed the amount of time it spends reviewing in-game decisions, but it did so through more organic means.
The number of reviews has dropped 43% from the previous four-year average through the first three weeks of the season -- from 1.4 per game over 2017-20 to 0.8 this year -- powered mostly by a plunge in coaches challenges. A series of factors have coincided to diminish them, most notably a new rule authorizing replay officials to notify the referee of obvious mistakes in real time. In the process, the NFL has its lowest average time of game through three weeks in at least the past four seasons (3:04:15).
You can view this development in a variety of ways, depending on your opinion of replay and the current state of NFL officiating. It doesn't necessarily mean that officials are getting more of their original calls right, and conversely, there is no evidence that the league is trying to phase out replay altogether. So what should we make of the curtailing of reviews, and is it a trend we expect to continue?