Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders' Jack Del Rio wants to waste your whole NFL Sunday with replays

Published Feb. 24, 2016 3:04 p.m. ET

foxsports

NFL games are long enough, right? Between incomplete passes, halftime and commercial breaks, the average game clocks in at just over three hours long.

And that's taking into account the famous Wall Street Journal study that said a typical NFL contest only has 11 minutes of game action. So, it's clear that the majority of a pro football broadcast is actually spent not playing football.

However, that's apparently fine with Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio. Why? Because he feels that the current replay system -- which is a mighty drain of time as it is -- isn't expansive enough. Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday, Del Rio said head coaches should be able to challenge any play that they see fit.

"You know, Bill Belichick brought up a great point in our owners meetings last year about allowing a coach to challenge any play if he decided it was worthy enough. So I'm in favor of that," Del Rio said to CBSports.com. "If we have an opportunity to get something right, let's use that opportunity and let's get it right."

Wonderful. The NFL currently only allows coaches to challenge certain types of plays. Here are plays that are NOT reviewable:

1. Status of the play or game clock

2. Proper down

3. Penalty administration, including the spot of a foul

4. Runner ruled down by defensive contact or out of bounds (not involving fumbles or the line to gain)

5. The position of the ball not relating to first down or goal line

6. Field-goal or try attempts that cross above either upright without touching anything

7. Erroneous whistle

8. Quarterback spike to kill clock

"If it's wrong, and we all know it's wrong, and we have an opportunity to make right under the same criteria -- indisputable -- then why not? So makes all the sense in the world to me and I'm supportive of something along those lines and we'll see where it goes," Del Rio said.

Del Rio is not alone in this thinking. Guys like Arizona's Bruce Arians and Carolina's Ron Rivera are on board as well.

"Last year, I thought it was kind of a weird recommendation that everything was reviewable," Arians said in 2014. "I'm kind of believing in Coach Belichick now with everything should be reviewable and you get three. You pick and choose, whether it was holding -- any play that judgment was involved in, I think I'm going for that one now."

And while it does sound good in theory, it's just not practical. Or desirable, quite frankly.

Can you imagine how long the last two minutes of a game -- even though no coaches challenges are allowed, but the replay booth can stop to take a look -- would take if literally every type of ruling was on the table for review? It would be worse than a college basketball game.

Nope, no thank you.