Despite a number of high-profile controversies, Roger Goodell expressed support for the NFL's officials and the quality of their execution on Wednesday.
"I don't think it's ever been better in the league," Goodell said. "There are over 42,000 plays in a season. Multiple infractions could occur on any play. Take that out or extrapolate that. That's hundreds if not millions of potential fouls. And our officials do an extraordinary job of getting those. Are there mistakes in the context of that? Yes, they are not perfect and officiating never will be."
In the AFC Championship Game, the Kansas City Chiefs ran a play on third-and-9 that ended up short of the sticks. Instead of a fourth-down punt, though, the Chiefs got to replay the down. The field judge noticed a clock error before the play and tried to run in to stop the play. He was unsuccessful and the play continued.
"In the championship game, that was stopped appropriately because the clock was running by an official on the field," Goodell said. "That happens frequently in our game. That's not an unusual thing to have that happen. ... We may not agree with every TV announcer or officiating expert, but we think our officials are doing a great job. We're always going to look to our competition committee and everything else we have, how we improve our officiating, but it will never be perfect."