What's the solution to the Ref Problem? (and yes, it is a HUGE problem, for ALL fans)... Well, here's my simple fix: Coaches get two red challenge flags per game. Why, then, do officials have no such limit on their available yellow penalty flags? IMHO, each ref should only have 4-5 flags to throw per game. Each flag triggers an automatic video review of the play in New York, and if any of their thrown flags are "picked up" and/or overturned on review, they surrender that thrown flag - just as a coach would lose his challenge. In this system, not ALL plays would be reviewable, but ANY time a flag is thrown, that act triggers an immediate and mandatory video review from the league office in New York - the outcome would NOT be decided by a conference of officials on the field. If in-game decisions are so often about "judgement calls", as Blandino and Werder insist, then refs should have to exercise actual judgement by deciding that the foul they are calling a) actually happened; had an actual effect on the outcome of a play; and c) is worth the potential risk of sacrificing one of their limited flags if overturned. Any thoughts? I'd like to hear this community's opinions on whether this would be a workable idea. I think it makes as much or more sense than Belichick's "make all plays reviewable" or "make the refsfull-time employees", but I don't think I've ever seen it articulated anywhere as a realistic proposal.
