Their should be somebody upstairs in a booth, maybe a team of officials that question every flag and let the referee know if there was a foul or not. And possibly to point out fouls that were not called on scoring plays, which would reverse the play. With all the millions of $s the NFL rakes in and all the technology available to them why would they not want to get the calls correct? Dont they owe it to the fans that pay those millions of $s to get it right? Any honest attempt to correct the wrongs that we witness every week in almost every game would be better than burying their heads in the sand and pretending its not a problem.
Unfortunately, there is this ego that says that expertise = authority and with the exercise of authority, there is inherent infallibility.
That is demonstrably false, of course. However, the refs have put this into the system. NFL only wants to pay so many refs. Refs want to be able to make calls and have it stand (understandable on a personal level, but not on a professional one). The Refs have fought instant replay and every aspect of review as an attack on their "sovereignty".
Shrug. I couldn't care less about their "sovereignty". The fact that they get so many calls wrong or miss so many calls demonstrates that their "sovereignty" with respect to calling a game is as legitimate as Monarchies in the 21st Century.
The NFL really could focus on improving their product in real ways.
The NFL really could focus on improving player safety in real ways.
The NFL really could focus on improving player conduct in real ways.
The NFL really could focus on improving the NFL experience at Stadium venues in real ways.
The NFL really could focus on improving their online platform in real ways.
The NFL really could focus on improving drug policies including aiding in research in real ways.
This list could go on and on and on.
For all that the NFL has right, there is still the NFL needs to fix. It's why I wrote before that NO sport remains on top forever. Baseball had the longest stay for a number of reasons. Football won't have near that longevity if they don't focus on more than marketing. Our attention spans get shorter and shorter and unless the next marketing genius suggests 30 minute games, the NFL will have to actually fix some of its structural problems or backslide.
The refs are just one of those problems.