The NFL world was abuzz during Sunday night’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals — but not only because Cincinnati scored what was ultimately the game-winning touchdown on a 98-yard fumble return from Sam Hubbard, which came after linebacker Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson stripped the ball from Tyler Huntley as the Ravens quarterback was stretching for the go-ahead score. No, one of the NFL’s Twitter accounts revealed something.
The imprecise nature in which balls are spotted has long been a frustration of football fans. While the referees do their best to get into ideal position, spotting the ball often depends on the officials eyeballing it. That gets even more frustrating when the chains are brought out to measure first downs.
Football fans have long wondered. Why can’t the league use chips, something that would make spotting the ball correctly a lot easier? In detailing the play, Next Gen Stats — which identifies itself on Twitter as “The official account of @NFL Next Gen Stats” — revealed something else.
“How close was Tyler Huntley to crossing the plane with the football? According to the chip in the football, the closest the ball got to the end zone was 0.6 yards from the goal line,” the tweet said.
The purpose of the tweet likely was to show that Huntley was not even two feet away from a potential winning touchdown. But a lot of people took notice of something else. Apparently, there is a chip in the football.
That drew a lot of comments.
“The what now,” C&C Machine, the Twitter account for the Oklahoma Sooners SB Nation page said.
“According to the WHAT?” another fan asked, using a photo of a measurement from a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the then Oakland Raiders that included an index card.
The what now https://t.co/5ITZRTV1YK
— C&C Machine (@CCMachine) January 16, 2023
According to the WHAT? https://t.co/bZZTMQCRWP pic.twitter.com/zy2sT8lKRu
— Carter Donnick (@CDonnick1) January 16, 2023
They were not the only ones confused.
“I’m sorry the what in the football? Why do we still use the chains??” asked Chris Vannini of the Athletic.
SB Nation’s JP Acosta had a similar question, asking “There’s a chip in the ball and we still use the sticks?”
NFL historian JaguarGator 9 was similarly perplexed, saying “WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S A CHIP IN THE FOOTBALL WHY ARE WE STILL USING GUYS WITH CHAINS AND GUESSING EVERYTHING?”
“So there’s a chip in the ball but we’re still relying on old men squinting at screens to tell us the ball broke the plane?” asked Jonathan Von Tobel of VSIN Live?
I'm sorry the what in the football? Why do we still use the chains?? https://t.co/BFVYg0YR8s
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) January 16, 2023
There’s a chip in the ball and we still use the sticks? https://t.co/D1yegcySVN
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) January 16, 2023
WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S A CHIP IN THE FOOTBALL WHY ARE WE STILL USING GUYS WITH CHAINS AND GUESSING EVERYTHING https://t.co/IZsvMihZZQ
— JaguarGator9 (@JaguarGator9NFL) January 16, 2023
So there’s a chip in the ball but we’re still relying on old men squinting at screens to tell us the ball broke the plane? https://t.co/gxzNDT1WxH
— Jonathan Von Tobel (@meJVT) January 16, 2023
Kalyn Kahler of The Athletic summed everything up with one tweet that was both cynical and impossible to argue with.
“Reminder that chips in the ball exist yet we use it for nothing useful except tweets.”
Reminder that chips in the ball exist yet we use it for nothing useful except tweets https://t.co/WRCeTaDjoN
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) January 16, 2023
That about sums it up.
