Dietz: NFL refs haven't had the best year. How would the Bears change things?

It's been a rough season for NFL officials, with all kinds of missed and bad calls costing teams a chance at victory on a weekly basis.

In a league where there are only 17 games, that's a really big deal. One more win often means a playoff berth.

Perhaps there should be a system where coaches can challenge penalties - those that are called and those that are missed.

The NBA allows coaches to challenge a personal foul against their team once per game, something that comes in quite handy down the stretch of tight games.

Why not allow NFL coaches the same luxury?

Think of some of the Bears' games that could have flipped if Matt Eberflus was able to throw this type of challenge flag.

Three great examples have come at Soldier Field:

• The officials blew a pair of calls during the Bears' 35-32 loss to the Dolphins on Nov. 6. The first was a 47-yard pass interference penalty that should not have been called on Eddie Jackson early in the fourth quarter; the second was a non-call on Keion Crossen when he prematurely dragged Chase Claypool down on a long pass from Fields with 1:30 remaining.

• Against the Lions, Jack Sanborn intercepted a pass early in the fourth quarter and appeared to give the Bears a first down at their own 26-yard line. The INT was negated, however, because Jaylon Johnson was whistled for illegal hands to the face. One problem: Johnson's hands never touched Trinity Benson's head.

• During the Dec. 4 loss to the Packers, the officials should have called a face mask penalty on De'Vondre Campbell for his tackle of Cole Kmet late in the game. It would have moved the Bears to the Packers' 49.

Many of you are aware of other wretched situations - the awful Tom Brady roughing-the-passer penalty that sealed Tampa Bay's win over the Falcons; the Chiefs' Chris Jones getting flagged for roughing as he's stripping the ball from Las Vegas' David Carr; the missed face mask penalty late in the Washington-Philadelphia game where Washington recovered a game-clinching fumble.

Over the last month I asked Eberflus as well as many players if penalties should be reviewable. It was an interesting mix of reactions.

No way:

Eberflus' response was brief: "The game would probably be five hours long. They want to keep it ... right around three is my understanding. ... I don't think that's gonna happen."

Offensive lineman Riley Reiff, who is in his 11th season, is on the same page and praised the officiating.

"The refs do a good job," he said. "Obviously there are some penalties that are crucial in games that maybe are missed or (called incorrectly).

"We're out there long enough. Anything to move along the game - and those replays sometimes take a while."

Maybe:

Offensive lineman Michael Schofield was really torn. Like Eberflus and Reiff, the eighth-year veteran doesn't want the game dragging on forever. But he does agree that plays already under review could be adjusted for a missed call.

"I mean they blatantly missed a face mask (in the Eagles game)," Schofield said. "That play was reviewed because of the turnover. So why can't he review it and be like, 'OK. We missed a face mask, so it's still the Eagles' ball.' I could see that."

But Schofield doesn't believe coaches should have a say with their challenge flag.

"There's a lot of judgmental things," he said. "Like pass interference: Each ref has a different opinion, so you're gonna have to have a guy in New York being like, 'No. Yes. Yes. No.' It would be very complicated."

(You could challenge pass interference in 2019, but the league dropped it after just 13 of 81 were successful.)

Definitely:

Justin Jones, Trevis Gipson, Larry Borom and Dante Pettis were all in favor of allowing coaches to challenge one penalty per game.

"They should definitely be able to," Borom said. "Even if the coach throws it and it's wrong, the coach loses his timeout."

Said Gipson: "That's a good idea. Just like you can challenge a play, a penalty drastically affects the game."

Linebacker Nicholas Morrow was against the idea at first. The more we talked, however, the more he warmed up to the idea.

A bit. Morrow would limit reversals or missed calls to scoring plays and ones that result in turnovers.

What really grinds Morrow's gears is how officials can't be criticized during postgame interviews. He also believes they should have to answer reporter's questions about them afterward.

"At the postgame podium, you can say whatever you want about your coach, opposing coach, your opponent, your teammates - but you can only say complimentary things about the refs," Morrow said. "If anyone can affect the game, we all have to be held accountable."

A couple options:

If I was running the league, I'd allow each coach to use one of his challenges on penalties in the last five minutes of each half. That's it, win or lose.

If the refs disagree, you lose a timeout just like a normal challenge.

Obvious misses like a face mask should be resolved in a matter of seconds. No matter what, I'd impose a time limit. Something like 90 seconds. If you can't make a decision by then, the challenge is denied.

It gets a bit grayer when talking about plays that result in touchdowns or turnovers, but I still think officials should be able to correct mistakes - or call a penalty - when something is staring them in the face.

How can an official avoid making a call on Washington after clearly seeing the face mask infraction on that critical turnover vs. the Eagles? Or how does one not reverse the blown hands-to-the-face penalty on the Bears' Jaylon Johnson after Jack Sanborn intercepted that pass? Or how do you not reverse the roughing-the-passer penalty on the Chiefs' Jones when you see that he forced the fumble just as he hit Carr?

In a multibillion industry where these calls directly affect the outcome of so many games, a common-sense system should be implemented.

Will it be challenging? Perhaps.

But once completed, we can all raise a flag in victory.