Patrick Mahomes Reveals Interesting Idea on How NFL Can Improve Officiating

NFL fans always complain about officiating, but Patrick Mahomes may have a way to change that. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback appeared on the WHOOP podcast and suggested that NFL put microchips into the footballs. He said the chip can be used when the ball crosses the goal line amid big pileups.

"I've always thought the chip in the ball has to happen sometime, where if you cross the line, it just tells you a touchdown," Mahomes said. "But it also the human error thing, it's kind of like baseball, balls and strikes, it's just part of the game. The biggest thing to me is when they get in the pile by the end zone, there is literally no way to tell if he's in the end zone or not. It's like you said, it's just whatever they call. ... I'm sure it'll happen soon enough."

There is a chip in footballs but it's used for NFL's Next Gen Stats. Back in 2017, Mike Pereira, the former NFL vice president of officiating, explained why putting in a chip in to help officiate won't make things easier. "You can put a chip in the ball, but then you better put a chip in the guy's knee, too," Pereira said when talking about using a chip to spot the ball. "The ball is one thing, but it's not over until the knee hits the ground or the shoulder hits the ground. How accurate is that going to be?"

Odds are this is something the NFL has looked into and will continue to evaluate down the road. But as for now, the NFL footballs will just use the chip for stats, which is not a bad thing for Mahomes as he has become arguably the best quarterback in the NFL. He's looking to come back stronger than last year after the Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

"They were the better team today. They beat us pretty good, the worst I think I've been beaten in a long time," Mahomes told reporters after the Super Bowl. "They took away our deep stuff. They took away the sidelines and they did a good job of rallying to the football and making tackles. We weren't executing early, had a few miscues. Guys weren't on the same page. Credit to them. They played a heck of a game defensively and offensively to beat us.'"