Is NFL’s new 'replay assistance' rule the impetus to fewer challenges?

Maybe there’s no need for a “sky judge” after all.

That’s been the position of NFL executive Troy Vincent and the league’s competition committee against the concept of using an extra official in a booth upstairs, and through 14 weeks of the season, the compromise of a more liberal instant replay process – bolstered by a new replay assistance rule – seems to be paying dividends.

Challenges and total replay reviews are down. The pace of NFL games is quicker.

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Consider:

• The total number of replay reviews (212) is the lowest after 14 weeks in at least five seasons, down sharply from the total at this point last season (297) and well off the total from 2017 (352). Reversals from the reviews after 14 weeks (120) have dropped, down from 163 after 14 weeks in each of the past two seasons.

• More significantly, challenges from coaches through 14 weeks (101) have fallen. At this point last season, there were 117 challenges. In 2019, the total was 186. The fewer challenges from coaches have also resulted in fewer reversals (43), compared to at least 60 reversals at this point in three of the past four seasons.

• The fewer replay stoppages have undoubtedly had an impact in reducing the average time of an NFL game, which measured at 3:04:18, compared to 3:05:32 the previous year.

Vincent, the league’s executive vice president for operations, contends that the quicker pace of the game is a direct result of the replay assistance rule that allows for quick reviews of plays and other elements of the game (including spotting of the football and timing) from the league’s centralized replay command center, without needing a challenge from coaches.

The rule adopted by owners last spring was essentially a compromise in the face of a push from league coaches wanting to add a “sky judge” official.

“There’s more trust,” Vincent told USA TODAY Sports, contending that the ability to use replay reviews for some obvious situations without forcing coaches to use challenges quickens the flow of the game. “If we can a coach challenging something, that’s that we should be doing. Let him save it for a critical point of the game.”

What the replay assistance rule doesn’t allow is for penalties to be assessed from the replay center, except in cases that involve ejections.

Vincent, who oversees the officiating department, is adamantly opposed to the idea of penalties assessed by officials who are not on the field.

With the bottom line always to get it right, the debate on how to tweak or expand instant replay probably won’t go away.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.