Instant Replay:Final 2 minutes

[stevew]

Why are plays still subject to challenge from the booth in the final 2 minutes IF the team that would benefit from a Reversal would not normally be able to challenge a play? Seems silly that a team has exhausted its timeouts and/or challenges, but they can still get the benefit of the doubt. I'm thinking specifically of the game closing Interception in the Cincy/Cleveland game. Cincy was out of timeouts, yet the refs still booth challenged the interception.

BTW, this isn't intended to be some anti-bengals rant, I just have seen it happen several times, and it still never makes sense.

[TroyF]

Why are plays still subject to challenge from the booth in the final 2 minutes IF the team that would benefit from a Reversal would not normally be able to challenge a play? Seems silly that a team has exhausted its timeouts and/or challenges, but they can still get the benefit of the doubt. I'm thinking specifically of the game closing Interception in the Cincy/Cleveland game. Cincy was out of timeouts, yet the refs still booth challenged the interception.

BTW, this isn't intended to be some anti-bengals rant, I just have seen it happen several times, and it still never makes sense.

It's just because they don't want any game decided in the final 2 minutes because one team didn't have a TO. In a lot of cases, both teams are out of timeouts in the final 30 or 40 seconds of the game.

I kind of wish the NFL would adopt the college system. Every play is reviewed by the booth and they can jump in at anytime. And if a coach wants to challenge he can do it once.

[BrianD]

My guess is that with all the frantic activity during a 2-minute drill, the officials realize that they are more apt to make mistakes and they want to make sure they get things right.

It also takes away the ability for coaches to get extra long timeouts or to disrupt offensive rhythm with spurious challenges.