New England survived a second consecutive scare and won a game that Baltimore should have won had it not been for a huge meltdown caused by questionable penalties and a lack of intelligence or execution. The Patriots are three fourths of the way to perfection. Dallas won the Game of the Century, Part III and became the second team in the 2007 season to clinch a playoff birth. Meanwhile, Miami lost their best chance to gain a victory this season. They are three fourths of the way to perfect imperfection. If I didn't mention your favorite player or team, it isn't because I didn't watch the game or research the game. It's because it would be impossible to mention every player or game in one newsletter. Please don't get upset if I don't list something about your favorite player or team. Simply mention it in the comments section, and I will try to address it. I hereby present to you a recap of the thirteen week in the National Football League.
Standings
AFC East NFC East 1.New England (12-0)** 1.Dallas (11-1)* 2.Buffalo (6-6) 2.NY Giants (8-4) 3.NY Jets (3-9) 3.Washington (5-7) 4. Miami (0-12) 4.Philadelphia (5-7)
AFC South NFC South 1.Indianapolis (10-2) 1. Tampa Bay (8-4) 2. Jacksonville (8-4) 2. New Orleans (5-7) 3. Tennessee (7-5) 3. Carolina (5-7) 4. Houston (5-7) 4. Atlanta (3-9)
AFC North NFC North 1.Pittsburgh (9-3) 1.Green Bay (10-2) 2.Cleveland (7-5) 2.Detroit (6-6) 3.Cincinnati (4-8) 3. Minnesota (6-6) 4.Baltimore (4-8) 4.Chicago (5-7)
AFC West NFC West 1. San Diego (7-5) 1. Seattle (8-4) 2. Denver (5-7) 2.Arizona (6-6) 3. Kansas City (4-8) 3. San Francisco (3-9) 4. Oakland (4-8) 4. St Louis (3-9) **Clinched Division * Clinched Playoff Spot
MVP of the Week: I would start with Tony Romo who rose to the occasion and had 309 yards and 4 touchdowns in the victory over Green Bay. Honorable mentions to Peyton Manning who had 288 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Colt’s huge victory over Jacksonville. LT had 177 yards and 2 touchdowns over Kansas City. Reggie Wayne, TO, and Joey Galloway all had over 150 yards receiving with Wayne and TO adding a touchdown. Finally Lofa Tatupu, who had 11 tackles and 3 interceptions in Seattle’s victory over Philly.
Game of the Week: This would probably be the hardest week for me to pick. Dallas and Green Bay had a great start to the week. The Packers were down 27-10 after 5 possessions and Favre was knocked out of the game. Aaron Rodgers had the game at 27-24 entering the 4th quarter. That would prove to be a 37-27 Dallas victory. AJ Feeley threw his 4th pick near the Seattle endzone to seal a 28-24 victory for the Seahawks. The Giants and Bears played an exciting 21-16 game in Chicago. Rex Grossman had a few Hail Marys from the Giants 30 yard line that were unsuccessful. Buffalo and Washington was decided on a game winning field goal for Buffalo. Tampa and New Orleans was decided bay a touchdown with just 17 seconds left in a bizarre ending to that game. But the winner was the Patriots and Ravens on Monday Night. For the second straight week a 20-point underdog found a way to stay in the game until the final seconds. The last drive featured two fourth down conversions, one of which was by penalty. The Patriots capitalized on penalties and Raven’s meltdowns to keep perfection alive.
Loser of the Weak: The Detroit Lions. Playoff teams can’t lose 42-10 in the midst of a 3 game losing streak at Minnesota. Miami Dolphins. Winless teams can’t lose 40-13 in their most winnable game left in the season. AJ Feeley who had one touchdown and 4 interceptions in a home loss to Seattle. Backup or starter; 3 picks to Lofa Tatupu is not an acceptable performance. Denver Broncos. Playoff hopefuls do not lose at Oakland by 2 touchdowns. Finally, the Officials and Ravens Defense. Officials are like small children. Other than the Head Referee, they should be seen and not heard. Their questionable calls and chatter with the Ravens was embarrassing and needs to be addressed. I’m not buying into the conspiracy theory that the league wants the Patriots to go 16-0. Still you don’t want situations that create the appearance of impropriety. The questionable calls didn’t create that as much as the unnecessary chatter with the Ravens players. It made it look like the calls were becoming personal rather than objective, whether or not that was actually the case. Bart Scott throwing a flag into the stands and having 30 of the Ravens 35 yards of penalties was equally a joke. Evidently it wasn’t important that offense get the ball in good field position a big spot. That reaction showed me one thing. The defense does not acknowledge that the offense is even part of that team. If they had, they wouldn’t have gotten 35 yards in penalties. Whether that attitude is justified is another question. It looked clear to me that Brian Billick has lost his team and that a change would probably do both parties well.
The Bay of Pigs: I’m not going to name one this week. The only candidate would be the Buffalo and Washington game. I respect what the Redskins did in just taking the field in the most difficult of circumstances. The Sean Taylor homicide last week with a looming funeral on Monday followed by a Thursday Night Game this week made playing that game a very difficult challenge. They handled that as well as could be expected.
The Cam Cameron Award (Excellence in Coaching): I have a lot of candidates this week. 1) Joe Gibbs calling 2 consecutive timeouts. That is a 15-yard penalty and resulted in Buffalo having a 36-yard field goal instead of a 51-yard attempt. Gibbs was a class act after the game and took full responsibility for the mistake, 2) Tom Coughlin. He won the game, but Chicago had 3 attempts at the endzone, because he elected to score a touchdown with 1:33 instead of taking the knee at the 1-yard line and depleting the Bears of both time and timeouts. Then he didn’t go for 2 points that would have made it a 6-point game instead of a 5-point game. Apparently he feel the extra point is a formality for the Bears, but a field goal from the same distance is too risky for his squad. I instantly became a Bears fans because I hate seeing stupidity rewarded, 3) Sean Payton. Can’t call a half back reverse gadget play late in the game trying to run out the clock with a lead. The result was a Reggie Bush turnover and new life for the Bucs. 4) Finally, Brian Billick. Not so much for his timeout that negated a 4th down stop of the Patriots. That could happen to anyone. It was unfortunate. The real problem is that he was unable to keep his defense together after that. That final drive demonstrated the lack of cohesion between Offense, Defense, and Coaching Staff. As I stated above, that is a team in desperate need of a change at the top.
Hospital Visit: Steve McNair is in need of shoulder surgery. He is out for the season and his career is definitely at a crossroads. Roy Williams is expected to be out for the season with a sprained knee. Dolphins safety Cameron Worrell is out for the season with an ACL tear. Derrick Ward broke his leg in the Giants game and is out indefinitely. Jeff Garcia has no structural damage to his back. He is questionable to play against Houston next week. Finally, Brett Favre separated his left shoulder and bruised his elbow. He is expected to make his 250th consecutive start this week against the Raiders.
Overall Impressions of the Week that Was:
1) What is happening to the Detroit Lions? – This was a team that was the product of a favorable opening schedule. They played 2 games against the Bears. They played Minnesota early in the season with a young QB. Oakland and Denver were nice opponents. Tampa is really their only solid win. Since the 6-2 start they have played Arizona, NY Giants, Green Bay, and Minnesota. Four consecutive games against playoff contenders. The result has been a 0-4 stretch where they have been outscored by an average score of 31.5 to 16. They have allowed over 30 points in 3 of the 4 games. They have lost by 10 plus points in 3 of the 4 games. Simply put, Detroit was very fortunate at the beginning of the season. They won an OT game against Minnesota at home. They scored 34 points in the 4th quarter against Chicago. They picked Griese 7 times in those two wins. They also created their own fortune in their blowout win over Denver and their close victory over Tampa Bay. The problem for the Lions is they are 2-4 on the road as compared to 4-2 at home. Their last 2 home games have been to (8-4) NY Giants and (10-2) Green Bay. Hence, the 4 game losing streak. Detroit has made a lot of strides since last season. They are competitive and relevant. They have a chance to not have 10 losses this season and a chance to win 8 games. However, they are not a playoff team. They can’t run the football, they turn the ball over too much, they don’t protect the QB, and they can’t stop the pass. As of late, they aren’t stopping the run either. Detroit is a good story and is finally headed in the right direction for the first time since Barry Sanders retired and Matt Millen took over. However, they are still not a playoff team.
2) Can Jacksonville Challenge the Top 3 in the AFC? – No really. They just don’t have enough explosion in the offensive part of the game to contend with these three teams. They have a fantastic defense, they run the ball well, and they don’t make many mistakes. Garrard had his first pick of the season this week. They play good teams tough because they are as physical as any team in the league. However, they just don’t score enough. They rank 14th in scoring offense. That will be enough to beat the Texans, Titans, Broncos, and some of the other teams on their schedule. However, good offense usually beats good defense. To beat the Colts, Patriots, and Steelers teams usually have to score 30 points to beat those teams. The Jags have scored over 30 points just twice this season, against Buffalo and Denver. Furthermore, the Colts, Patriots, and Steelers all have respectable to great defenses. Jacksonville will be a tough out and if one of those three teams overlooks the Jags, the Jags could make them pay in a single elimination situation. While they should make the playoffs and win a first round playoff game, I can’t see them seriously challenging the top three teams in the AFC.
3) Previewing Pittsburgh (9-3) at New England (12-0) – This is a fascinating matchup. The Patriots have not been the same team they were in their first 8 ballgames. They have scored 24, 56, 31, and 27 points in their last four contest. The Colts game was decided by 4 points. Fair enough, the Colts are arguably the 2nd best team in the NFL. The Bills was the expected blowout. But the Eagles are 5-7 and the Ravens are 4-8. These are games the Patriots are supposed to win. It hasn’t so much been the offense that is troubling. Those point totals are great by most team’s standards. It’s the 20.5 points per game the defense is allowing. Is this simply a matter of a team with nothing left to play for losing its focus? Possibly, but the Patriots defense is definitely not scaring people in recent weeks. The 24 points the Ravens scored on Monday was their third highest total of the season. This was an offense that had scored 14 points or less in 4 of their last 5 games. The defense will have to play better against the Steelers if they want to win this week. On the Steelers side it is very simple. They have the running back to attack the Patriots. Miller is good at stretching the middle of the field. Ward and Washington are good targets. Big Ben can win big games. The Steelers are 7-0 on the road as opposed to 2-3 on the road. This game is in Foxboro. Are the Steelers good enough to go on the road and beat a quality team? So far they have losses at Arizona, Denver, and the NY Jets. The Steelers will not only need to play their very best game of the season, but do so in an environment they have not thrived in this season. I look for the game to similar to the Colts game and in the 20s. While I would not be surprised if Pittsburgh won the contest, until they prove they can play well on the road, I am going with the Patriots.
4) Is Minnesota the front-runner for the NFC’s #6 seed – They definitely are one of the hottest team in the NFC. Dallas has won 6 games in a row. Seattle and Tampa Bay have won 4 in a row. Minnesota is next in line with 3 in a row. Outside of the division leaders, they are playing as well as any of the wild card contenders. The schedule sets up fairly well for the Vikings. They play the 49ers on the road. Bears and Redskins at home. They finish at Denver. None of these teams have a winning record. Their combined winning percentage is .375. Those 4 teams rank 26th, 27th, 10th, and 31st against the run. That does not bode well for the opposition. Furthermore, 3 of the Vikings 6 losses are to the Packers and Cowboys. They were in two of those 3 games. If they had an easier schedule or division they could easily be 8-4 right now. If you take the 34-0 beat down the Packers gave the Vikings at Lambeau, there 5 losses are by 30 points or 6 points per contest. This is a young team that has played competitive and is learning to win at the right time. None of the other 5 NFC playoff teams wants to see Adrian Peterson in the playoffs. He is a guy that could bust out for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns in a playoff game and knock out a better team in the playoffs. The key is that Jackson is starting to throw the ball a lot better than he was at the beginning of the season. While he is not going to be confused for one of the top QBs in the league, he has a plus 100 rating in his last 2 games. He also has only one interception. I look for the Vikings to get to 9-7, which is a lot better than I had them pegged for at the beginning of the season. Detroit and Arizona are their main remaining competition for the #6 seed. Detroit is in a 4 game tailspin and has a brutal schedule left that features Dallas, Green Bay, and San Diego. Arizona has Seattle and New Orleans, but closes with Atlanta and St Louis. I believe that Arizona and Minnesota set up the best to make a run for that #6 seed.
5) The Playoff Picture – The NFC started to clear up a lot after this week. Three of the four divisions appear to be sealed. Dallas needs one win in their next four games to clinch the East and two games to clinch homefield advantage. They have a one game lead over Green Bay with tiebreaker for home field advantage. Green Bay needs one victory in their next four to clinch the North. They have a 2 game lead over Seattle and Tampa for a first round bye. Tampa has basically won the NFC South. They have a two game lead and tiebreakers over New Orleans and a week 17 matchup at home against fading Carolina. It will take a monumental collapse by Dallas, Green Bay, or Tampa Bay will be needed for the challengers to catch them. The only division with intrigue is the NFC West. Seattle has a 2 game lead over Arizona. This Sunday’s game between the two will decide whether Seattle wins the division or if we have a race to the finish. The NY Giants have a 2 game lead in the wildcard and appear to be in great position for one wildcard. The Cardinals, Lions, and Vikings are all 6-6. Four teams are further back at 5-7. In the AFC the Patriots have clinched the division and are two victories away from clinching the number one seed. Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have two game leads with tiebreakers over Cleveland and Jacksonville. Those divisions appear to be over with those two teams fighting for the other first round bye. San Diego has opened up a 2 game lead over Denver and 3 game lead over Kansas City and Oakland. There is a week 16 matchup between Denver and San Diego looming, but Denver will have to win out in order for that game to matter. Jacksonville at 8-4 is still in solid position for the first wildcard. Tennessee and Cleveland are still solid at 7-5 and will battle for the final wildcard. Buffalo is trailing at 6-6 with a host of teams sitting at 5-7. These teams are long shots should the frontrunners falter.
A Look Ahead: I went 3-3 on the picks last week. Green Bay did not do as well as I hoped in Dallas, Cleveland lost a close game in The Desert, and the Lions have failed me for the last time. Here are my important games for next week other than Pittsburgh and New England, which I discussed above. These are not necessarily the 5 best games, but the 5 games that I feel will be the most influential in shaping the various divisions:
1) Chicago (5-7) at Washington (5-7) – An elimination game for two teams that were basically eliminated with losses last week. With so many teams jumbled together teams are going to find it difficult to make up 2 game deficits when that includes jumping over 6 or 7 teams. This is a tough spot for Washington. They just had an emotional week with the death of Sean Taylor. They lost an emotional game at home to Buffalo. They attended a funeral on Monday and now have to get ready to play a Thursday night game. Chicago has not been able to string together consecutive wins this season. Since Week 4 Chicago has alternated wins and losses. If the pattern holds true, this is their week to win. I look for Chicago to win a low scoring game and keep their faint playoff hopes alive. Winner: Chicago
2) Dallas (11-1) at Detroit (6-6) – Detroit needs a win badly. 6-2 seems like a long time ago. They have dropped 4 consecutive games. They are allowing teams to gash them with the run and pass. They are giving up a ton of points. That isn’t a spot where you want to try to fix that against Dallas. The game is at home and Detroit plays well at home. Dallas is in a class of their own. I look for Dallas to officially clinch the NFC East and moved one game closer to home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Winner: Dallas
3) New York Giants (8-4) at Philadelphia (5-7) – If the NY Giants win this game, they would have seemed to weather the second half slide. 9-4 sets up very well for them to earn one of the two wildcards. They would basically have to lose out their last 3 games and have both Arizona and Minnesota win out. With the Redskins and Bills still on the Giant’s horizon, that seems unlikely. For Philadelphia, they are still alive in the playoff hunt. They have tiebreakers with Detroit. They have to win this game. A win here gives them a split with both Washington and NY Giants. It stops a 2 game losing streak. Playoff teams can’t lose 3 games in a row in November and December. Furthermore, the Eagles have a tough road to go. With games at Dallas, at New Orleans, before closing out against the Bills, this doesn’t look like a team capable of running the table. Neither team screams pick me with their recent play on the field. Seeing Philly has 7 interceptions in their last 2 games and McNabb’s health is still in doubt, I’ll go with the Giants. Eli is actually playing better than someone for a change. Winner: NY Giants
4) San Diego (7-5) at Tennessee (7-5) – Haynesworth comes back and the Titans win. Interesting how that works. This game comes down to location. The Chargers are 2-4 on the road as opposed to 5-1 at home. Their only 2 wins are against that sorry excuse for a division known as the AFC West. In their 4 road games out of division, they have been outscored by an average score of 32-18. Tennessee is 4-2 at home. One loss was to the Colts by two points back in week 2. The other was a blowout by Jacksonville without Haynesworth. I have learned this season to not pick the Chargers to beat anyone outside their division on the road. I have also learned that Tennessee is a force to be reckoned with so long as they have the big man in the middle of the D line. I look for this game to be very similar to the Jacksonville game where the Chargers lost 24-17. Winner: Tennessee
5) Arizona (6-6) at Seattle (8-4) – If Seattle wins, they clinch the NFC West. They would have a split with Arizona without the burden of two divisional losses to San Francisco. A 3 game lead with 3 games to play and tiebreaker seals the deal. If Arizona misses the playoffs, they will look back at those two 49ers losses and shake their head. This is another location game. Seattle is 5-1 at home and Arizona is 2-4 on the road. Seattle’s defense is forcing turnovers and sacking the QB. That is not a good thing when Warner is the QB. Seattle is also passing the ball very well and is starting to get healthy. The Cardinals are 11th against the run, but 24th against the pass. That is not a good recipe for beating Seattle either. I like the matchups for Seattle. I like the location for Seattle. I look for Seattle to clinch this division. Winner: Seattle
That’s all for this week. This week in addition to my normal newsletter, I will take a look at New England’s historical 12-0 start and compare it to other great 12 game starts. I had promised that article after I did the 6-0 article and I am a person of my word. I look forward to hearing your comments.
I TOLD YOU that the pats get the calls! now I got a whole city behind me! not that I care, now I get a chance to see my team SHUT EVERYONE UP! except Wilbon of the PTI show, he has said for over a month that the Steelers will beat the Pats.
Now onto the picks for the week, give me the games you want a "hunch pick" and I will give you my picks if ya got time, I was 3-0 last week, but I picked the games. Kinda wondered how I would do if I didnt pick my own games.
on your picks I would take Philly and San Diego, I want Washington, but I dont like the hunch, Oh hell I take Washington also!
Last edited by netsteeler on December 4th at 7:54 PM.
Another great read. There are a lot of teams jockeying for position in the NFC race for that 2nd wild card seed. The Lions' losses have opened the door for many teams.
I saw the highlight of Bush fumbling the ball and it maybe me say what a dummy, but I guess the coach sure know that he was a bone head and not put him in that kind of position. Cleveland got robbed, and Tavaris Jackson has been looking good. Are Philly fans still chanting for Feeley, probably those clueless clowns.
Netsteeler - Thanks for the comments. I'm not convinced if those were calls for the Patriots or against the Ravens. Clearly the Ravens players and the refs were at odds with each other. What caused that is still to be determined.
As for the picks. Philly is turning the ball over too much and as long as Feeley is in there I think that will continue to be the case. San Diego is a terrible road team. Washington is tough to pick because of the whole Taylor situation.
CCwbys - Thanks for the post.
Midnite - Thank you. I agree. The wildcard looked like a runaway until the Giants and especially the Lions came back to the crowd. Should make for some good games the last 4 weeks.
QCisco - OThanks for the post. nly thing is that there big upsets have been at home. They aren't very good on the road this season.
DatStar - Thanks for the post. That was my thought. Call a half back dive or a safe play action pass. Not some gadget play that has a chance to blow up like that.
I totally agree that officials need to maintain their poise and not reciprocate. However, this is not new for the Ravens. They are notorious for complaining about everything. This is/has always been the Billick way - paint the picture that everyone/everything is against you, to fire the troops up and, if/when it doesn't work out, there are always ironclad excuses as to why. They are such an up and down team from year to year, you have to question the players/coaches motivation. The Ravens don't seem to play consistent from game-to-game. They have had many injuries, but really their weakness is the coaching staff's unwillingness/inability to adjust offensive scheme to the personnel.
I am a bit curious as to which calls you believe were questionable in that game. While the timing of the calls vs. the Ravens has brought much outcry, every single call seemed quite correct. If there was controversy involved it would be on Gaffney's reception for the TD. But there was no way the replay official could rightly overrule the catch. If not, it still would have been second and goal, sans Scott's meltdown.
Moseby - Excellent anlysis of the Ravens situation. It is unacceptable that in the era of free agency they haven't been able to do anything with that offense.
With regards to the questionable calls. The most questionable one to me was the Gafney catch. I'm not sure whether he had possession on that. He definatley got the feet in bounds. The question was whether he demonstrated control.
I believe the review was correct, because there was no conclusive evidence that he didn't catch it. However, had the officials called it incomplete, I don't believe there would have been enough evidence to overturn that either. It was a call that could have gone either way.
The interference on 4th down didn't seem that strange to me. The officials overprotect the WR position, but they do that accross the board. Watson was grabbed and that is a penalty.
My point was that when an official is arguing with players all game it creates a perception of impropriety when a call goes against that team even though the perception may be incorrect. I fault the officials for their conduct more than I do their officiating.
Bottom Line: The officials should only be talking to the head coach and the captains regarding plays on the field. Other than that they should not be engaged in that. The Ravens are at fault for losing their heads in that game. The officials are at fault for allowing that enviroment to develop on the field.
Someone had previously mentioned that the Browns got robbed. I strongly disagree. The Winslow catch as the decisive play of a football game really can't be determined in this situation. Maybe he comes down in bounds, maybe not. A force out is a judgement call live and should not be an overrule on replay. I was under the impression it could not be reviewed, but it still is not clear to me what they were reviewing. Regardless, the Browns were the beneficiary of two upheld replays in the game that were bad calls. Edwards was contacted by the safety with the ball on the 3rd quater TD and was down by contact. Also, a catch was not overruled (by I believe Winslow or Jurvecious) in the first half where the point of the football clearly touched the ground. I specifically was watching that 4 pm game and it seems most people only saw the last play highlight to determine who got the better of the calls. Once again, here we sit in a forum with fans crying about officiating. Cleveland and Baltimore didn't win because they made too many mistakes and players/coaches/fans are taking the easy way out by blaming the officials/NFL.
moseby, as I watched the replay of the pass interferance in the ravens game near the endzone, I personally didnt see much, in fact, the other catch you talk about I was watching also. At the end of the game in Arizona I saw Rolle bump Winslow 5 times before he caught that ball. so the call in the ravens game was 5 times less contact, and called. Winslow was fighting all the way down the sideline and STILL almost won the game! as for the calls, wrong as all of them were, its part of the game. We either take out replay or deal with it.
street cred- another solid post, and I agree, in fact the only time I would argue that the refs were totally in the wrong, besides calling anyone a "boy" if that really happened, is the timeout. take a second and see if it is the head coach or not! if he looks and had seen it to be the defensive coordinator, the rule is to ignore it, and the ravens win and we are talking about an upset instead.
Street, are you a believer now? Have we proven ourselves? We out played the saints with a back up QB. Come on dude give my team some #### points. I still pick them for the NFC host at the superbowl.. our defense is on fire, Garcia is healthy.. but what the hell luke mccown can throw the ball too.
Moseby - That's why I don't talk about the officials. If you give that stuff credence, every team should be 16-0. The games are usually close, so a close call can swing the game. My complaint was more geared toward officials conduct than judgmment.
Netsteeler - I can see all kinds of problems with that. That opens the door for teams having a coordinator screaming timeout, the other team hearing it, and then not knowing whether it is real or not. Can you imagine if the Pats had gotten the first down, had it ereased, and were then stopped. I'm sure the Ravens would have wanted their timeout honored then. Leave it as is. The burden is on the team to figure out the hiearchy for calling timeouts. Not the officials who have enough going on in that game.
Keith - I like the Browns, but in a close game. Jets are playing a little better as of late and Browns are not good on the road.
Rat (Johnathan) - I figured you would be excited about that result. If I remember right, I picked the Bucs to win that game. Obviously that means I thought they would for all intensive purposes seal the division.
No, I don't believe they will win the NFC. They will probably have only the opening playoff game at home. If that is the NY Giants, that will be a tough game, although I would pick Tampa to win.
Packers and Cowboys are too good on offense for the Bucs to seriously contend in those games. I don't like Tampa winning a road game in Green Bay. I don't like them winning at Dallas. Look at the season stats and you should be able to see that the Bucs are not in the same class.
Yes StreetCred, I totally agreed with your admonishing the referees behavior in conjunction with the players conduct. They need to shut-up and officiate. The league office will take care of the player discipline. What bothers me is fans who watch two plays o####ame and decide one team got screwed or lucky based on what is shown on a highlight reel. We can all argue about the consistency of officiating from game-to-game and crew-by-crew. We can argue about whether some plays should be allowed a replay challenge or not. We can argue about what "conclusive evidence" really is. But I've got a problem with EVERYONE who says their team lost a game because of an official's call. The Browns lost because they had 4 turnovers and offensive penalties. The Ravens lost because they are a terribly undisciplined team when faced with adversity and Kyle Boller's INT in the 4th, cost them a chance at a FG to go up by 10. The penalties called were fair and as you mentioned replay couldn't have overturned the Gaffney catch whether it had been ruled complete or incomplete. Either way, the Ravens beat themselves, as did the Browns. I'm sick and tired of whiners - two teams play each game, the one that makes the fewest mistakes will win every time.
Moseby - Good comments. That is why I was mad at Packer fans griping about that pass interference and not Romos 309 yards and 4 TDs or TOs 156 yards and a TD. Fans should be above blaming the officials for their team's shortcomings in a particular game.
Last edited by StreetCred on December 7th at 9:56 AM.
I live in Chicago, but am originally from Wisconsin. I am a disgruntled Green Bay Packer fan that now loves the Jets. My favorite sports are Football, Basketball, and Baseball. Hockey and soccer are at the bottom of my list. I would rather watch the Spelling Bee than either of those sports. My favorite athletes of all time are Brett Favre and Michael Jordan. While I like debating many sports, NFL Football is by far my favorite topic to discuss.
In addition to this blog I am also a writer for the Fantasy Football Maniaxs. It is quite an honor to be writing with a group of knowledgeable football fanatics. The address is http://www.fa ntasyfootball maniaxs.com. I hope you enjoy the blog.
