When you're an NFL referee, there may be no substitute for experience.
One NFL team executive told The Athletic's Mike Sando that an official needs multiple years under his or her belt before finding a comfort zone.
"It takes four years to become truly competent, based on the complicated nature of the rulebook and the way they keep tweaking replay," the executive said. "You put these fifth-year guys in there and you are rolling the dice."
Sando noted how the five referees from this weekend's Wild Card Round games have worked an average of 5.