Thirty-two seconds elapsed between the moment Will Blackmon crossed the goal line and the airing of a replay that showed he stepped out of bounds near the 5-yard line.
CBS stayed with a wide shot in the second quarter of Sunday's game until Blackmon leapt into the Lambeau Field stands. The network then cut to a close-up of Blackmon, to a reaction shot of Oakland Raiders safety Stuart Schweigert, back to Blackmon, to the crowd and then to Blackmon one more time before finally showing the play.
By the time the foot fault was revealed, Raiders coaches had no more than 13 seconds to see the lone replay, communicate with the sideline and challenge if they wished. They didn't, and the play stood as a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Challenging that play probably wouldn't have made much difference in the game's outcome, considering the Green Bay Packers would have been in scoring position anyway and cruised to a 38-7 victory. But it highlighted an imperfection in the second installment of the NFL's replay system, a challenge-driven model introduced in 1999, that places a premium on truly "instant" replays and at times can favor the home team.
"A lot of times, doing what's best for replay might be going against the textbook for TV," said Fred Gaudelli, producer of "NBC Sunday Night Football" and other national football broadcasts since 1990. "For instance, if you were out of commercials in a particular quarter and there was a touchdown scored ? and especially if the home team scored it, like (Blackmon's) ? you might give the director some freedom to capture the crowd and all of that prior to the extra point and then show all the replays after the extra point, because you're going to have about 45 seconds before they line up to kick again.
"But nowadays, you really can't do that. So, what would make sense maybe from a TV perspective really doesn't fly any longer, because whether you like it or not, you're part of the officiating of the game."
Owners voted 30-2 in March to make instant replay a permanent part of NFL games. The league's first foray into instant replay was derided for being too intrusive and was discontinued in 1991 after six seasons. However, there remains at least some feeling among coaches the league might be better off returning to a model in which officials initiate challenges, as they do only in the last 2 minutes of each half and in overtime under the current system.
That sentiment is due in part to frustration that decisions made in a television truck parked outside the stadium can impact the game itself. The replay and coaches' booths only have access to the "dirty" network feed ? the same images broadcast to viewers at home, without graphics or commercials.
So, unless a stadium's video board replays a close call first, coaches either must wait for a producer to find the right angle or risk losing a timeout by challenging before seeing evidence.
"We're just kind of waiting and looking," said Robert Nunn, the Packers' defensive tackles coach and part of their replay team. "You'll see something, and you'll see from an angle it's close. It gets a little touchy as far as, do you say, 'I think it was, or I think it wasn't?'"
The system
Once a head coach throws his red flag to challenge a play ? each team is afforded two challenges per game, or three if the first two succeed ? the replay official tells the referee through a headset what he's about to see. The referee then has 60 seconds to watch replays and decide whether there's indisputable evidence to overturn the call. If the challenge fails, the challenging team loses a timeout.
In the replay booth are: the replay official, who chooses the angles the referee sees and decides whether to stop the game inside of 2 minutes; a video operator; a technician, who sets up the equipment and troubleshoots; and the communicator, who keeps a statistical log, listens to the announcers and speaks with people in the TV truck.
The images shown on the network feed appear on a monitor in the replay booth and are recorded onto a computer server. Screen shots of each play and replay then appear on a touch screen in front of the replay official, so when there's a challenge, he can direct the video operator to show the appropriate footage.
"We don't make a decision based on anything that hasn't gone out over the air," said Dean Blandino, the NFL's director of instant replay. "That was important to us, because we don't want to make a decision and have the fans at home not be able to see what angle we were using."
About half of all challenges are of whether a pass was completed. Judgment calls such as pass interference and forward progress are exempt.
After each game, replay officials are graded on presentation, shot selection and the final decision. Poor performance could impact postseason assignments and retention, and Blandino distributes a training tape after each week's game showing good and bad calls.
Coaches' booths also are equipped to bring in only the network feed. No recording devices are allowed, and the communicator checks both teams' booths before each game to make sure they're in compliance.
Like fans, then, coaches may only get one look at a replay before the ball is snapped and the challenge window closes. Once play is stopped for a review, producers generally focus on the one or two best angles, rather than muddying the things with a view from every camera.
"In a situation that is being reviewed, I try to show at least a minimum of four different angles," said Lance Barrow, the coordinating producer for "The NFL on CBS." "There is usually one angle that, that's usually all you need."
Varied resources
Though the playing field is level for both teams in each game, not all broadcasts provide a comparable selection of replays.
Gaudelli said 16 or 17 cameras routinely are trained on the action for NBC's telecasts, about the same as were used when he was producing Sunday night games on ESPN and ABC's "Monday Night Football." CBS' top game each week uses about the same number of cameras, according to Barrow. However, the league only requires six cameras, so lesser games can leave producers and officials with fewer angles from which to choose.
"A lot of the time, the coaches are at the mercy of, how much equipment does the network have out?" Gaudelli said, estimating 95 percent of coaches' challenged are prompted by TV replays. "What kind of producer and director are doing the game? Are they experienced? Are they inexperienced? Those are all variables that go into the equation, and if you're a great team like the Colts or the Patriots or the Packers or the Cowboys, more often than not, you're going to have each network's No. 1 or No. 2 team with the most equipment. If you're a lower team or a team that's not having a great season, you're going to have the opposite."
The most notable change to replay this year was the installation of high-definition equipment in 28 of the NFL's 31 stadiums, providing crisper images both for officials and the coaches upstairs at a cost of about $300,000 per team. Giants Stadium (home of the New York Giants and Jets), Texas Stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys) and the RCA Dome (home of the Colts) weren't upgraded because they'll soon be replaced.
While projections of faster replays have proved incorrect ? Blandino said the average time remains 47 or 48 of the allotted 60 seconds ? assessments have been positive.
"What they were working with the last couple of years was really antiquated and would often break down," Gaudelli said. "I did a game last year in San Diego ? again, now you're talking about an older stadium ? where there was a challenge, and even though all my replays were being shown on the big board and everyone could see them, the actual on-field system failed, so the referee had no choice but to uphold the call on the field ? which was the right call, luckily. But basically, he had no recourse. He could have been looking up at the same screen that the rest of the stadium was.
"Everybody at home sees it in HD. Why should the referee have the worst view of all when he's potentially making a game-changing call?"
Finding success
Entering last week's games, the Packers were one of 12 NFL teams that have been successful on more than half their replay challenges this season, according to STATS, an independent research firm. The Buffalo Bills led the league with an 83.3 percent success rate (5-for-6); the league as a whole was 66-for-188 (35.1 percent).
With another successful challenge in the Oakland game, the Packers are 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) this season, compared to 0-for-4 by their opponents. (Booth-initiated reviews also are 0-for-4 in Packers games.)
While coach Mike McCarthy watches for replays on the stadium's video boards, the assistant coaches who sit upstairs ? including Nunn, secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer and offensive coordinator Joe Philbin ? watch for replays on the network feed, which is fed to them through the replay booth. Schottenheimer often is the one who radios word to McCarthy, according to Nunn, but it sometimes takes more than one person to get the message through.
"Sometimes, you may see an angle that, 'Well, no, I think his foot was down,'" Nunn said. "And then all of a sudden, right at the last minute, you see, 'No, it wasn't! Throw it! Throw it! Throw it!'
"A lot of times, maybe a defensive person sees it, and Mike's on (the offensive communication line and can't hear anything). It gets a little crazy."
In the third quarter of Sunday's win, Packers end Jason Hunter stripped Raiders return man Tim Dwight, and Blackmon recovered the bouncing ball in the end zone. Officials ruled Dwight down, but after replays showed the ball was coming loose, the Packers challenged.
On CBS' broadcast, the crowd could be heard reacting to a scoreboard replay before the first TV replay appeared. Though it took the network 54 seconds to show the definitive replay, the post-touchdown mayhem of Blackmon jumping into the stands and officials conferring about the call provided more than enough time for Packers coaches to see it and McCarthy to throw the flag.
"We have broadcasting seminars before the season starts that we talk about replay and we talk about how important it is to get us shots in a timely fashion," Blandino said. "But we also understand that the networks are not in the replay business, and so they have their guidelines to follow."
"At home, the home team scores a big touchdown, you're probably going to get reaction shots first before you get a replay, and that's just part of the process. That's something that we all have to deal with."
Packers challenges
The Packers are among the NFL's leaders in success rate of replay challenges, having converted 4-of-7 this year:
Sept. 23 vs. SD
Brett Favre fumble, San Diego recovered...Reversed, incomplete pass
Oct. 7 vs. CHI
James Jones fumble, Chicago recovered...Upheld
Adrian Peterson rush, spotted as first down...Upheld
Nov. 4 at KC
Damon Huard complete pass to Jeff Webb...Reversed, incomplete pass
Nov. 29 at DAL
Tony Romo complete pass to Terrell Owens...Upheld
Romo complete pass to Owens...Reversed, incomplete pass
Dec. 9 vs. OAK
Tim Dwight down by contact...Reversed, fumble, recovered for TD
