NFL forced to bring back 1900s technology as brutal weather defeats AI in Bills vs Bengals snow game

Snow is wreaking havoc in Week 14.

The NFL officiating crew battled the elements as the Buffalo Bills hosted Cincinnati Bengals at Highmark Stadium.

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And they needed to rely on century-old technology to get the job done.

In 2025, the NFL flipped to using Hawk-Eye virtual measurement technology as the primary method for measuring the line to gain.

The system has been employed with the hope of ‘accelerating’ game administration, and was panned by fans on its debut.

But there’s also another problem — it doesn’t work in the snow.

Bills-Bengals game brings back iconic NFL chain gang

On Sunday, snowy conditions in Buffalo forced the officials to go old school and utilize the legendary ‘chain gang’.

First used in college football around 1906, the image of the gang running onto the field was commonplace in football for almost 120 years.

This season, though, a new AI system has made the calls and displayed a virtual rendering on big screens inside the stadium and on broadcasts.

But that didn’t happen in Buffalo on Sunday.

The NFL opted to bring back the chain gang in the snow, because there have been concerns over how the Hawk-Eye tech works in bad weather.

Why doesn’t NFL’s Hawk Eye work in the snow?

“Cameras can’t track what they can’t see,” Justin Goltz, commercial director for Sony’s Hawk-Eye North America told The Athletic in September.

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“I think that’s always going to be the risk or the con of an optical tracking system.”

According to The Athletic, the Hawk Eye tech was tested at all NFL stadiums last year, including at times when there was heavy fog and snow.

“Our cameras were occluded by the snowfall itself, not necessarily the snow on the ground,” Goltz said of the test.

“That’s a real-world situation that I think all parties are aware of. And we have disaster recovery protocols and backup plans in place to mitigate that if necessary.”

The back up plan, it seems, is bringing back the chain gang.

Fans react as chain gang returns in Bills-Bengals

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And on Sunday, fans absolutely loved seeing humans get one up on AI.

“Surprising job that AI can’t replace: Chain gang measuring the downs at NFL games. I’m genuinely shocked that technology is unable to do this job right now,” one wrote on X.

“Big win for the humans today against artificial intelligence as the chain gang was brought back due to snow on the field in Buffalo.
Seems robots are perfect at spotting the ball….as long as it isn’t snowing,” another said.

“NFL Chain Gang in Buffalo. Order is restored,” a third concluded.

With snow causing chaos at Highmark Stadium, on the field, it was Joe Burrow and the Bengals dealing with it best.

Cincinnati took a 21-11 lead into halftime over Josh Allen and the Bills.

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