Replay errors in early games worry NFL coaches

NFL competition committee members Sean Payton, Mike Vrabel, and John Lynch expressed concern at the NFL scouting combine in February 2026 about replay errors disproportionately occurring in 1 p.m. ET games during the 2025 season, as NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent revealed that four out of five replay mistakes happened during those early windows due to the volume of games being reviewed simultaneously. Vincent explained that while there were 171 replay review or replay assist decisions throughout the season, the league identified five that needed correction, with four occurring in the 1 p.m. ET games. Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who serves on the competition committee, admitted he was 'a little surprised' to learn the majority of errors happened in early games, while New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel questioned whether staffing issues at the league's replay headquarters were the root cause of the problem. The coaches emphasized that every game deserves the same level of scrutiny regardless of its time slot, with Payton stating 'we should never have a work shortage in replay' and Vrabel calling for evaluation of staffing to ensure consistent quality across all games. The replay system involves assistants monitoring games from the New York league office using Xbox controllers to view different camera angles, though the final decision-making process remains somewhat unclear, with Rule 15 stating that the 'senior VP of officiating or his or her designee' has the authority, but the league has been vague about specifying who exactly makes each decision. San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch suggested another potential cause, noting that 1 p.m. games typically have fewer broadcast cameras compared to prime-time games, and proposed requiring teams to have fixed cameras in stadiums to ensure uniformity in camera angles across all games. As the collective bargaining agreement for NFL officials and the league expires in May without a new agreement reached, improving the replay system accuracy has become a priority for the competition committee as they work toward a system that is 'as close to 100% accurate as possible.'