Sources – NFL expected to include QB slides in expanded replay assist

For all those complaining that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls, relief soon could be on the way.

NFL replay assist is expected to expand this offseason into plays that could include the quarterback slide, league sources told ESPN on Saturday.

The NFL enacted replay assist in 2021 to allow replay officials and designated members of the officiating department to assist with on-field calls in limited game situations.

Replay assist has been used during games when there is clear and obvious video evidence, such as the spot of the ball or a foul, a complete or incomplete pass, and touching of the ball or a line.

Beginning in 2024, the league expanded replay assist to include additional areas in which information could be provided when there was a penalty flag already on the field, including fouls for hits heading out of bounds, fouls for blows to the head of a quarterback and elements of intentional grounding.

Now, more elements could be added this offseason. Replay assist came into question in the third quarter of last weekend’s AFC divisional playoff game, when Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket, slid beneath two lunging Texans defenders and still drew a 15-yard penalty on Houston for unnecessary roughness.

“Oh come on,” ESPN analyst Troy Aikman said during the telecast as the penalty was called. “I mean, he’s a runner and I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit.”

Aikman said the league has “got to address it in the offseason.”

“You can’t, as a quarterback, run around and play games with the defenders and then get called for a penalty,” Aikman said.

The NFL’s competition committee meets throughout the offseason before typically voting on rule changes in late March at the league’s annual meeting, which this year will be held in Palm Beach, Florida. The competition committee will discuss expanding replay assist, and it is likely to include quarterback slides.

The belief around the league is that there is no reason not to bring further objectivity and clarity to a play that fans in the stadium or at home can see.

Texans star pass rusher Will Anderson Jr., who was flagged earlier in last Saturday’s game for roughing the passer, said Houston “knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game.”

Mahomes, however, pushed back on the idea that the Chiefs get favorable treatment from officials.

“I don’t feel that way,” Mahomes said Wednesday as the Chiefs began preparations for Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills. “At the end of the day, the referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and as proper as they possibly can.

“All you can do is go out there and play the game that you love as hard as you can and live with the results. … I feel like I’ve just continued to play the game, and I just try to win, and whatever happens kind of happens.”