What is a challenge in American football?
You are watching a football game, a big play happens, and suddenly the head coach walks to the sideline and throws a red flag onto the field. Play stops, the referees huddle, and everyone waits for a decision from the replay booth. This is a challenge, and it is one of the most dramatic moments football has to offer.
What a challenge is
A challenge is a formal request by a head coach to have a ruling on the field reviewed by officials using video replay. If the coach believes a call was wrong, whether a player was ruled down when he fumbled, a receiver was called out of bounds when his feet were in, or a touchdown was incorrectly awarded or denied, he can throw his red challenge flag onto the field to stop play and trigger a review.
Each team gets two challenges per game. If a coach wins both of his challenges, meaning the call on the field is overturned both times, he earns a third challenge. If he loses a challenge, he loses one of his team’s timeouts. This cost is what makes the decision to challenge a significant one. A coach who uses challenges carelessly and loses them can find himself without timeouts at a critical moment late in the game.
How the review works
Once a challenge is called, the referee goes to a designated replay monitor on the sideline and reviews the play from multiple camera angles. The standard for overturning a call is high: there must be clear and conclusive video evidence that the original ruling was wrong. If the footage is ambiguous or does not definitively show a mistake, the call on the field stands. This standard exists to prevent every close call from being reversed and to keep the flow of the game intact.
Some plays are reviewed automatically without a coach needing to challenge. All scoring plays and turnovers are reviewed by the officiating booth regardless of whether a flag is thrown. This ensures that the most consequential moments of the game are always checked, even if a coach does not notice an error in time.
The strategy behind the challenge
Knowing when to challenge is a real skill for a head coach. Challenging a call that looks wrong but is actually correct wastes a timeout and leaves the team more vulnerable later. Saving challenges for the right moment, and having the presence of mind to recognise a reviewable mistake in real time while managing an entire game, is part of what separates experienced coaches from inexperienced ones. When a challenge succeeds and a crucial call is overturned, it can completely change the outcome of a game.
Follow every decision with the AFLE
The American Football League Europe launches in 2026. Follow the AFLE and watch how coaches, officials, and replay reviews shape the outcome of a professional season.
