Have you ever heard of challenging a flag in NFL? Well, I hadn’t, until recently when I was watching the Sunday game with friends. It was such an unexpected move when the coach of the opposing team threw out the red flag. In my confusion, I started to Google away to find out what exactly he had done. And boy, was I surprised to see what I found!
Challenging a flag is when a coach disputes the officials’ call on the field and throws out the red flag – that’s pretty much like a challenge flag – to ask for a review on the play. Here’s the fun part – if the challenge is successful, the coach gets his team an extra timeout! Now, that’s a great deal.
So, I started to wonder what’s the catch? Can you challenge a flag anytime you’d like? And the answer is definitely not as simple as yes or no. As it turns out, NFL rules specify that you can challenge a flag only two times in a game. Moreover, there needs to be a clear visual evidence that the officials missed something for the challenge to be successful. That is why the coach might throw out the flag at any time during the game, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be successful in the end.
Besides, the coach can challenge a flag only during the last two minutes of each half and for certain types of fouls like pass interference, spotting of the ball, and fair-catch interference.
Although it might seem that the concept of challenging a flag is relatively simple, it is actually quite complicated and its successfulness is mostly determined by the officials on the field. The challenge is useful when the coach needs an extra timeout or believes that the call was wrong and wants to dispute it. Yet, if the coach’s challenge fails, he will lose a timeout.
In NFL, when the officials’ call on the field is not in favor of the team, the coach can throw out the red flag as a sign of challenge and ask for further review. However, for the flag-throwing to be successful, it is essential the review shows clear visual evidence that the officials made a mistake. Moreover, the coach can challenge a flag only two times during the game, and in the last two minutes of each half or for certain types of fouls. So, if the challenge fails, the coach will lose his chance for an extra timeout.