Those of you who have watched NFL games on CBS through the first two weeks of the season may have noticed some confusion. When watching football, our brains are trained to automatically think there is a flag on the play when we see a yellow indicator in our field of vision. The problem with CBS’ coverage of 2013 NFL games has been that the yellow ticker can mean either a flag has been thrown or a game has gone final.
As you can see above (courtesy of Deadspin), CBS has been using a yellow “Final” box to show when games from around the league have ended. While the score of the actual game you are watching is at the top of the screen, the yellow box still confuses our brains into thinking flags are constantly being thrown.
I can’t speak for others, but I never found myself frustrated last year over not being able to tell whether a game that took place elsewhere had gone final. The yellow is unnecessary, and it appears CBS has already realized that. A representative from the network told Deadspin on Sunday that the graphic will be changed beginning in Week 3.
Phew. Now when our fantasy players score 60-yard touchdowns, we won’t have to worry about there being laundry on the field.
