Here are some Random Thoughts from Week 3 of the NFL season:- The talk of the NFL seems to be Bill Belichick's postgame grabbing of an official after the classic Patriots-Ravens thriller on Sunday night. Many are calling for Belichick to be fined or even suspended. Personally, after watching the supposed "grabbing", I see no reason for everyone to get upset. Belichick simply wanted a word with the official after a very close game winning field goal call. It's not like he wanted to fight the guy, after all. However, it would have been smart for Belichick to simply do nothing at all, since a) field goals cannot be challenged, and b) apparently it's a fine to touch an official. Frankly, it's in the best interest of the officials, but this type of over-reaction is just a sad excuse to berate coaches for simply berating themselves.
- What a Sunday, huh? There were at least 4 games this Sunday that went into overtime, most notably the frantic Lions-Titans interconference thriller. Unfortunately for many of us, we couldn't watch the end of it. I think the NFL and television networks should try to establish something more than it's current format to allow viewers to watch the conclusions of exciting games. If ESPN can do it with perfect games in baseball (ie. live look-ins), why can't something similar be done in the NFL? Is there nothing in the NFL that compares to a perfect game in baseball? We'll leave that discussion for another day.
- The replacements need to go. Now. After watching the scary hit that Darrius Heyward-Bey took in the Steelers-Raiders contest, it's become evident that the refs don't know when to protect players, and thus the NFL doesn't really care about player protection. That's too bad, because the NFLPA really got ripped off in negotiating a new CBA that ensured player benefits. The refs have allowed too much pushing and shoving, too many uncalled penalties, and seem to lack knowledge of the rulebook in some cases. Sometimes they have to be reminded by fans and sideline personnel to call a certain penalty. It's really quite a travesty. Maybe I'm only knocking on a few refs here, some look competent. But for the most part, we NEED the regular officials back. They keep order in the NFL's business, the game. Owners and administrators may adhere to the rules and formats, but they do nothing for the casual fan on gameday. So they might as well do something right to grab our attention.
That's all for tonight, although I may add more throughout the week. Until then, enjoy the defensive slugfest going on in Seattle.
UPDATE: Just finished watching the Green Bay-Seattle game on MNF. Watched a whole lot of postgame coverage. Please note that these are my immediate reactions, but I'm sure my view may change as this story develops into tomorrow. In what may be the most controversial call in football history since the Immaculate Reception, the Green Bay Packers were narrowly defeated by a highly questionable call. I'll stop short of saying they were robbed and only say that they were handed a loss by the scabs on the sidelines. This wasn't a football game. It was a theatre controlled by the replacement officiating crew. Every call, every play, everything was essentially decided by a ho-hum group of random pop warner zebras who essentially cost the game for the Packers. The Seahawks could have just as easily had the game stolen from them, but the fact remains that the officials cost a team a win. This game will be put under a far larger microscope since it came on a last second game-winning Hail Mary play on football's biggest stage. But it comes at a time when certain things shall pass. And they should, for the NFL has reached a point where it has become a mockery and embarrassment of itself. Man, I sure wish the early 2000s NFL. Because what we have here is a struggling shell of former glory.
