As Super Bowl LX approaches, coaches and fans alike are sharpening their strategies for one of the most contentious parts of modern American football: instant replay challenges.

While the NFL has steadily expanded its replay review system over the years, grey areas are still not solved: some penalties and situations simply cannot be contested using a coach’s challenge flag. Understanding this “forbidden list” is crucial for teams trying to navigate tight moments on sport’s grandest stage.

Head coaches can throw a red flag to contest certain on-field rulings, triggering a replay review that can overturn mistakes. However, beneath this curious quirk is a long-standing principle: subjective judgment calls by officials are largely protected from challenges, which keeps the referee’s on-field authority from being wobbled. This principle stands firm even in the playoffs and the Super Bowl.

For starters, most traditional fouls, especially those bathed in subjective judgement, remain outside the scope of coach challenges. Common examples include holding, pass interference, most personal fouls such as roughing the passer or illegal contact, and various forms of unnecessary roughness.

Under current replay rules, these penalties cannot be challenged by a coach, even if video replays seem to suggest an error.

There are, however, a handful of limited exceptions. Objective rules, such as determining whether too many players were on the field, or whether a forward pass was legal, are reviewable and challengeable because they involve clear criteria that replay officials can verify without subjectivity.

Of course, we hope to not have to speak about the officiating crew during Super Bowl, and that their barcode outfits are the only thing that draws attention to them during the big game.

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Super Bowl LX will take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with the game scheduled for Sunday, February 8, 2026. The NFL has set a 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff for the fixture, which translates to 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time locally at the stadium. Don’t bring your umbrella.

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