The Narrative vs Reality

Eric Meyer

Everyone loves a good story. Sports journalism is entirely built on them. Nobody would read Thomas Boswell’s articles in The Washington Post if he just posted a bunch of advanced statistics to explain why the Redskins are perpetually terrible. We want some juicy details about our favorite teams, players and coaches.

The narrative adds to the entertainment of sports, and football is on top partially because of the ability to manipulate storylines to add intrigue to each matchup, especially in the postseason.

There’s just one problem. Analysis tends to be driven by the narrative and not by reality, which leads to some of the most respected NFL analysts reciting false facts that you could hear from any fan on the street.

Oh, it’s not just the NFL. It exists in nearly every sport. One of the biggest stories in baseball was the collapse of the Oakland Athletics.

The narrative: “Oakland’s trade of Yoenis Cespedes for Jon Lester caused the A’s to collapse, lose the division, and fall in the wildcard game against the Royals.”

The reality: “The A’s offense was already collapsing prior to the trade, and the presence of Jon Lester at the top of the rotation buoyed the sinking A’s just enough to reach the wildcard game. In short, without the Lester trade, the A’ do not make the playoffs.”

But I digress. This is an NFL blog, so I’ll get to the examples that matter for the playoffs. Let’s look at North Texas.

The game: Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys, NFC Wildcard Round

The situation: Detroit led 20-17 with 8:25 left in the game. The Lions had the ball on the Dallas 46, lining up for a 3rd & 1. Stafford targeted tight end Brandon Pettigrew on a wheel route up the left sideline, but the pass was defensed by linebacker Anthony Hitchens and fell incomplete.

The back judge threw a flag for pass interference against Hitchens, which would’ve set the Lions up with a first down at around the Dallas 25 yard line. The officials huddled and, after deliberating, picked up the flag. This set up a 4th & 1, and the Lions opted to punt, ending what looked like a promising drive to ice the game. Dallas proceeded to score a touchdown on their ensuing drive and held the lead to win 24-20.

The narrative: Pete Morelli and the officiating crew’s decision to overturn the pass interference call cost the Lions the football game.

The reality: The Lions shot themselves in the foot too many times to count, benefiting from their share of questionable calls in the first half, and had more than enough opportunities to make up for one they missed due to the pass interference call.

Look, I’m not going to argue that the officials made the right decision. In real time it looked like the refs got it right. Face guarding is not a penalty in the NFL, and it was tough to see significant contact to warrant pass interference. On replay, it looked a bit more dubious, but the officials also missed an obvious face mask penalty on Brandon Pettigrew, which would have at the very least offset the pass interference call and the Lions would have replayed the down.

All in all, it was at worst a missed pass interference call. Those happen probably five or six times a game. Had there been no flag thrown at all, we wouldn’t be discussing this. Some Lions fans would grumble about it, but the play wouldn’t have created such a firestorm had the refs not taken center stage by throwing a flag and then picking it up. This was an everyday missed call that the Lions benefited from multiple times in the first half when they built their 17-7 lead.

In order to further the point, let’s look at what happened next. Jim Caldwell opts to punt and trying (and failing) to draw the Cowboys offsides. The Lions took a harmless delay of game penalty and lined up to punt. Sam Martin had literally the worst punt I have ever seen in my life, a shank job that went out of bounds just 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. The decision to punt netted the Lions five yards of field position. The Cowboys proceeded to score the go-ahead touchdown on their ensuing drive on a 3rd & 8 pass from Tony Romo to Terrence Williams.

The Lions got the ball back with 2:39 remaining and needing a touchdown. Stafford lost a fumble on the second play of the drive, but the Cowboys coughed it back up on the same play, giving the Lions a redo with a free first down. Stafford led his team down to the Dallas 42, but fumbled again on 4th &3. This time the Lions weren’t so lucky, and the Cowboys took a couple knees and won the game.

It’s pretty clear that the Lions were the reason the Lions lost the game, and not the officials. When you get outscored 17-3 in the second half, shank 10 yard punts, lose two fumbles on consecutive drives and have Jim Caldwell as your coach, you’re going to lose.

It’s a shame that a simple non-call has been the focus of what was otherwise a phenomenal football game. Dallas earned the win by hanging tough and taking advantage of Detroit’s mistakes. That’s what playoff football is about, and that should be the story.

But I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless won’t be talking about much more than “the flag” on First Take.

Wild Card Afterword, Part II

Donte Moncrief had three career touchdown reception entering Saturday,
and he added another to his tally on this third-quarter reception.

Cory Puffett

Cincinnati at Indianapolis

Andrew Luck may have only thrown one touchdown pass, but his performance Sunday afternoon had to have made his coaches very happy. Luck had his first turnover-free playoff game and had his first 300-yard passing game since a late-November home win against the Washington Redskins’ porous secondary.

With injuries to Indy’s top two members of the backfield, Zurlon Tipton stepped up to help Daniel Herron carry the Colts’ run game, and the duo did a fine job of keeping Cincinnati’s defense honest, combining for 96 yards on 23 carries. Luck added 18 rushing yards on a pair of attempts.

There isn’t much good to say about Cincinnati, so I’ll head the proverb and not say anything at all. It will, however, but interesting to see whether the Bengals shake things up in the coming weeks. Despite his 0-4 record in the playoffs I expect Andy Dalton to return as their quarterback for the 2015 season. I’m not as sure about Marvin Lewis, who is now 0-6 in the playoffs as their head coach.

It seems unthinkable that the Bengals could have a new man at the helm next year after making the playoffs five times in the last six seasons, but four straight first-round exits can lead to difficult and sometimes surprising decisions.

While the Bengals start looking toward next season, the Colts will travel to Denver where Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck will meet for a third time, with the head-to-head series split at one game apiece.

DeMarco Murray, the 2014 NFL rushing leader, had 97 yards on 22 touches
Sunday evening against the NFL's number one rush defense.

Detroit at Dallas

No one expected the Cowboys to duplicate their last home performance when they routed the Colts and nearly recorded their first home shutout in team history. Their fans had to be nervous when the team came out as lethargic as they did Sunday evening, though.

The Lions took advantage of some sloppy play for the Cowboys offense and several holes in the defense to build up a 14-0 that they held until the final couple minutes of the first half, when a major defensive lapse allowed Terrance Williams to break free for a 76-yard touchdown reception.

Though the Lions did manage to add a field goal just before the break, they’d clearly lost any momentum at that point.

Neither team came out in the second half looking like a team that deserved to advance, but Dallas slowly built up steam and after a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive near the end of the third quarter, it seemed inevitable that Detroit would give this game to the Cowboys.

It’s only fair to bring up the fact that there were one or two questionable calls (or non-calls) by the refs in the fourth quarter that went against Detroit, but there is no question that the team they put out there for the second half did not deserve to win that football game.

That doesn’t change the fact that the refs may have played a bigger part in Dallas’s win than they should have, but I do believe the better team won. The Lions had plenty of opportunities to put the game away on offense and instead fumbled twice on their last possession of the game.

Tony Romo, for his part, shook off a poor start to turn in a very solid playoff performance. Terrance Williams caught two touchdown passes in the game which may help Dallas create a more effective game plan for their game in Green Bay next week, but I’ll get into that later this week.


If you missed my recap of Saturday's wild card action, read it at Wild Card Afterword, Part I.

Monday Football Afterword: Lions vs Ravens

The Ravens continued to focus on the passing game in Detroit, but
Ray Rice still gained 56 yards on just 12 carries in Baltimore's win.

Cory Puffett

Matthew Stafford has hit a bit of a rough stretch. He’s thrown 13 interceptions in the last seven games. Monday night was his fourth multi-interception game in that stretch. To put in perspective, he had just four interceptions and no multi-pick games in the Lions’ first seven games of the season.

But last night wasn’t just about Stafford playing poorly. Calvin Johnson’s stat line is respectable on first look – six catches for 98 yards. But just six catches on 14 targets isn’t so hot. He had two very unusual drops in the first half and another play on the sideline where he could have gotten his feet down but didn’t. Sure he’s hurt, but he’s been playing well through this injury all season.

Detroit’s defense struggled to stay disciplined, getting called for eight penalties for 89 yards, including a big one on 3^rd & long when they were called for unnecessary roughness on Ravens receiver Marlon Brown, allowing Baltimore to move into position for a 32-yard field goal by Justin Tucker.

Of course, even if the Lions hadn’t been penalized on that play, it may have just been a second 61-yarder for Tucker.

The Ravens kicker was the player of the game, no doubt. He converted all six of his field goal attempts including a 61-yard game winner with 38 seconds to play. The Lions had scored a touchdown on their previous drive but failed to convert their 2-point try, which would have made this a game-tying kick. Instead, Tucker drove the ball just inside the right upright.

On Detroit’s final drive, Stafford threw his third interception of the night, this one to Matt Elam who made headlines earlier in the week when he questioned Calvin Johnson’s physical ability.

The Lions have failed to take advantage of their NFC North rivals’ lack of consistency at the quarterback position and right now are behind both the Bears and the Packers. They’ve lost four of five and though their last two games are both against very weak opponents, nothing is guaranteed with this team.

The Ravens are still in the fight for the AFC North. It won’t be easy. They have to win out to do so. They host New England next week and then they play at Cincinnati, who is 6-0 at home, in Week 17. But their win on Monday also put them back in control of the AFC #6 seed over Miami.

Final Score:

Baltimore Ravens – 18

Detroit Lions – 16

Thanksgiving Football Afterword: Lions vs Packers

Calvin Johnson had six catches for more than 100 yards and a touchdown,
helping Detroit beat their NFC North rivals for just the second time in his career.

Cory Puffett

Did Green Bay lose this game? Or did Detroit win it?

During the first half, it felt like it would be more correct to say that the Packers were losing the game. The Lions turned the ball over three times on their first four drives. Lions punter Sam Martin even gave the Packers the ball on the 40 when one of his kickoffs bounced out of bounds.

Green Bay failed to take advantage though and trailed 17-10 at halftime.

Over the course of the second half, however, it became increasing clear that Detroit was doing more to win the game than Green Bay was to lose it. Matt Flynn rarely had a clean pocket after his first drive thanks to a great effort by the Lions’ defensive line. Good coverage off the line by Detroit’s secondary meant Flynn couldn’t get rid of the ball before the pocket collapsed on him.

Detroit’s offense was rolling all day. Once they cut out the turnovers, there was no stopping Matt Stafford, Reggie Bush and Joique Bell. After throwing four interceptions last week, Stafford had a better day, throwing for 330 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Reggie Bush carried 20 times for 117 yards and a touchdown. Bell wasn’t far behind, getting 19 carries for 94 yards and a score.

Aaron Rodgers cannot come back soon enough. Green Bay has struggled mightily in his absence. Including his last start, in which he played less than a quarter, Green Bay is 0-3-1 in their last four games and are hanging on to their playoff hopes by the slimmest of margins. With their next game 10 days away, everyone within the organization and fan base is hopefully that Rodgers will be ready to take the field against the Falcons.

After losing two straight, Detroit’s big win puts them back in control of their destiny within the NFC North. It was the Lions’ first Thanksgiving win since a 22-14 victory over Green Bay on November 27, 2003. It was also just Detroit’s second victory in their last 17 against Green Bay.

Final Score:

Green Bay Packers – 10

Detroit Lions – 40

Sunday Football Afterword: Bears vs Lions

Entering Sunday, Calvin Johnson had 7 TD receptions, a far cry from his one TD
in the first eight games of 2012. He added two more today in Detroit's win in Chicago.

Saswat Misra

In a fairly close game most of the way, the Lions outlasted the Bears 21-19 in Soldier Field. Matt Stafford hooked up with Calvin Johnson twice in the second half to put the game away.

Even though Josh McCown found Brandon Marshall late, a much-needed two-point conversion attempt failed (with two chances to get it) and the onside kick didn’t work out.

Jay Cutler started the game, but as the game progressed Cutler suffered an ankle sprain and he wasn’t available for the final drive of the game.

With this win and a Packers loss, the Lions have sole possession of first place in the tight NFC North with Green Bay and Chicago one game back. These last few games have probably been the best we’ve seen from Stafford and Johnson as they look to increase their divisional lead even further next week at Pittsburgh.

The Bears will be closely monitoring the Jay Cutler injury as an apparent ankle sprain might keep him out against Baltimore next week. If he isn’t able to go, Josh McCown will be ready as he has performed decently well the past few games.

Final Score:

Detroit Lions – 21

Chicago Bears – 19

Sunday Football Afterword: Lions vs Cowboys

Calvin Johnson's 329 receiving yards ranked 2nd in NFL history for a single game
behind Flipper Anderson's 336 yards for the LA Rams in 1989.

Cory Puffett

In one of the most exciting endings this football season, a mixture of terrible pass coverage by Dallas and gutsy decision-making by Matthew Stafford helped the Lions become one of the few teams in the Super Bowl era to win a game with a -4 turnover margin.

Matt Stafford led an impressive game winning, 80-yard touchdown drive with less than 1:30 remaining and no time outs. After a completion to Calvin Johnson at the 1-yard line, he called the troops to the line of scrimmage for a spike and then quickly dove over his linemen for the winning score.

Stafford finished the day with 488 passing yards, 329 of which went to Calvin Johnson he had the best fantasy day of the season for any wide receiver despite only scoring once.

Reggie Bush had another big day as well, carrying the ball 21 times for 92 yards and a score in addition to eight receptions for 30 yards.

Dez Bryant, who has made headlines all week comparing himself to Johnson, likely just looking for people to respect his game, had two touchdown receptions on just three catches for 72 yards. Tony Romo barely broke 200 passing yards and his completion percentage was below 50%.

But this loss cannot be pinned on Romo. Despite his poor completion percentage, he had three touchdowns and no interceptions. The Cowboys’ defense, which many experts were under the impression had finally grasped the concept of the Tampa 2 defense they use, struggled throughout the game, especially on the last drive. Stafford was extraordinarily accurate with his throws, but the coverage was neither prevent nor Tampa 2. Whatever it was, Dallas paid for it dearly.

The good news for Dallas is that they play Minnesota next week before their trip to New Orleans, so they should have a relatively easy game. The bad news is that means Jimmy Graham, who had two touchdown receptions on an injured foot, has two weeks to get healthy before the Cowboys porous defense faces him.

Detroit will head to Chicago for the first of a two-game road trip next week before facing the resurgent Steelers, who have won two straight games heading into this weekend.

Final Score:

Dallas Cowboys – 30

Detroit Lions – 31

Sunday Football Afterword: Redskins vs Lions

Calvin Johnson had a nice day in Washington, grabbing 7 receptions
for 115 yards and this touchdown.

Cory Puffett

Over 70 years of tradition gone. Of course, beating someone isn’t really a tradition, but it can feel that way when you’ve beaten a team at home 21 times in 21 tries, which is exactly what the Redskins had done against the Lions since the team moved to Washington in 1937.

We’ll have to settle for 21 victories in 22 attempts after the Lions ended that streak, the second longest steak of defeat on the road for the franchise, behind only their 22 straight losses in road games against Green Bay.

The Redskins had been outscored by more than 40 points in the first half of their first two games combined, but managed to go into the half trailing Detroit by only three points. In the process, Washington proved that it wasn’t their offense playing better as much as it was the Eagles’ and Packers’ defenses playing softer in the second halves of those games that allowed the Redskins to make the score look close.

Detroit kept the defensive pressure up in the second half and allowed just two field goals to the Redskins.

Washington defensive presence was much better in this game, but still not good enough as the offense is struggling to put points on the board. Through three games, the defense has allowed fewer points than through three games in 2012, but our offense was good enough to keep up last year.

On a brighter note, RGIII looked much healthier on Sunday. His footwork in the pocket was much better than it was in the first two games of the season, and he even ran with the ball on read options a few times. He doesn’t have the ability to cut explosively right now, but at least that should keep defenses from putting all of their focus on Alfred Morris on those plays. The improved footwork also showed in his passing as he completed 32 passes on 50 attempts, both career highs.

In a week division, led by Philadelphia one week and Dallas the next, 0-3 may not spell certain doom for the Redskins. Luckily they have what should be an easy game against Oakland next week, and then they get a week off to try and find a game plan that will work in Dallas.

Final Score:

Detroit Lions – 27

Washington Redskins – 20

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2013 Offseason Needs: NFC North

I began going through the NFL division-by-division last week, writing about what each team needs to address this offseason. I have covered the bases in all four AFC divisions, and yesterday I covered the NFC East, so today I move on to the NFC North.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Chicago Bears

Marc Trestman is a CFL coach in the NFL. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to a completely different game. It will also be interesting to see what twists he brings to the game plan that will catch other teams off guard.

As usual, the Bears biggest problem on offense is the line. The Redskins had the same problem for years but finally seemed to have it fixed in 2012. The Bears need to fix theirs for 2013, or Marc Trestman’s team will look rather similar to Lovie Smith’s.

It’s hard to find what they really need on defense, because their defense is so good. But they don’t have very much depth to an aging secondary, specifically at corner.

Detroit Lions

The Lions broke out in 2011 as one of the NFL’s most dangerous teams. Matt Stafford was healthy for the whole season, Calvin Johnson tore it up in the end zone, and nobody wanted to play them. Then the offseason came, and with it off-the-field issues. They’ll need to really clean up their act this season to keep the focus on football and getting back to their 2011 form in 2013.

The Lions will put a lot of attention on keeping Cliff Avril. They’ve already lost one good defensive end and really can’t get away with losing another if they want to be competitive next season.

Titus Young is gone, and it’s for the best. However, that loss does mean the Lions don’t have a real second receiver behind Megatron. They need depth at that position.

Defense is also an area that must be addressed. The Lions have a decent line if they can keep Avril, but their linebacker corps and secondary are not very good.

Green Bay Packers

Greg Jennings is a free agent. As we’ve said for years, though, the Packers have unrealistic depth at receiver, so I’m not expecting Jennings to return in 2013.

Defense is the area of concern for the Packers, as it has been since their Super Bowl year. Despite having a lot of playmakers and big names on defense, they give up a lot of yards. It might be time to trade one or two of their big names for some draft picks, because I’m less and less convinced every season that these guys know how to play together.

Minnesota Vikings

The only ray of sunshine I see for the Vikings right now is Adrian Peterson.

Christian Ponder is an okay quarterback, but he will have to do a lot of improving this offseason if he is going to help take this team back to the playoffs, especially if the Vikings don’t keep Percy Harvin. They don’t have much other talent at receiver. As good as Adrian Peterson is, if the Vikings have no passing game, he won’t carry them far.

Minnesota also needs to put a lot of work into their defense. Their secondary is okay but rarely impressed me as anything more than mediocre. Linebacker is a clear area of concern and they need to pick up a good interior lineman.

Tomorrow I will cover the NFC South’s offseason needs, team-by-team. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

Saturday Night Football Afterword: Lions vs Falcons

Calvin Johnson got a chunk of his 225 yards on this
3rd quarter reception. Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

Being a Lions fan is not something I envy. Then again, I’m sure being a Redskins fan hasn’t been something any of them would envy until this season.

Tonight, Detroit was treated to the Lions’ seventh consecutive loss. The fourth quarter offered a reason for plenty of cheering, but with the Lions in the cellar of the NFC – along with the Eagles – there wasn’t much more excitement to be had.

The source of the stadium’s energy boost in the final quarter was Calvin Johnson, who set three records in the losing effort. He broke Jerry Rice’s single-season receiving yards record with one game left to play this season, and he set records for consecutive 100-yard receiving games and 10-reception games, with eight and four, respectively.

Matt Ryan had a solid game, completing 78% of his passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, tying a career high for scoring throws in a game. Two particular passes toward the start of the fourth quarter were most telling of what level his game is at right now, which I would say is very high. He will ultimately be judged by his playoff productions, which has not been very good in his three career playoff games, all loses. But he continues to be a solid regular season player.

Two of Ryan’s touchdown passes went to Roddy White, who had eight catches for 153 yards.

With the win, Atlanta has locked up the top seed in the NFC and will not have to play a road playoff game in 2012.

The Lions, meanwhile, have fallen oh so far since an impressive 2011 campaign that ended with a playoff loss to New Orleans. Detroit will have a lot to do in the draft and during free agency to move back up in a much-improved NFC North. However, the number one concern for Jim Schwartz this offseason needs to be fixing the team’s off-the-field issues, even if it means cutting problematic players, even Ndamukong Suh.

Monday Night Football Afterword: Bears vs Lions

Monday's matchup was the 110th MNF game
televised by ESPN.

In a rehashing of the oldest rivalry in the National Football League, the Lions got crushed by the Bears. Okay, so they didn’t exactly get crushed, but anyone who watched any of the game knows that the 13-7 victory for the Bears was no escape either.

The Lions scored a late touchdown to avoid being shut out, but they played a terrible game. The Lions failed multiple times to get Calvin Johnson open, and the one time he did break wide open, early in the game, he dropped a well-placed pass by Stafford.

There were seven possessions inside the red zone between the two teams. Only two resulted in points. The Bears had enough scoring to make up for their two failed red zone attempts, but the Lions started 0/3 inside the red zone before their meaningless late touchdown. They fumbled just inside the 20 late in the second quarter, then fumbled again one yard out of the end zone in the third quarter. The third red zone turnover for the Lions was an interception three yards out.

So while the game certainly was not a blow out, I would still say that ‘crushed’ is a fair description of the Lions after last night. They had a few solid drives that should have resulted in some sort of points, but they repeatedly got crushed near the goal line.

Unfortunately, due to an outside obligation, I was unable to see the entire game. I watched the early portion of the game and a fair amount of the fourth quarter. From replays and recaps I have seen and read, I have gathered that it was a statement game for the Bears. However, I have to ask what explanation there is for the Lions driving so effectively leading up to those turnovers. The Lions could have easily won this game with just one or two of those turnovers not happening.

Once again, I still hesitate to put my trust in the Bears. I have no doubt they will win the NFC North, but once they get to the postseason I have a very difficult time believing this is the team to represent the NFC in New Orleans. Don’t get me wrong; this is a good team with some terrific players. But they haven’t played against a really good team yet. Even their loss came to a Packers team that had not gelled yet.

Chicago’s second half is a little more difficult. After two more games that should be easy wins – against Carolina and Tennessee – the Bears host Houston and then visit Candlestick. A win in San Francisco would give me a big confidence boost in them. But they also have two games against a competitive Minnesota team, matchups with defensive juggernauts Seattle and Arizona, and a home game against a Green Bay team that looks much better than they had during the first few weeks of the season.

Detroit, meanwhile, I think can be fairly dropped from serious postseason discussion. The Lions have lost Nate Burleson, possibly for the rest of the season, to a broken leg. Considering they have failed to come up with a solid game plan that gets the ball in Calvin Johnson’s hands, Stafford is about out of options. There is also talk that Jahvid Best may have played his last game because no doctor wants to sign off on him playing again after his recent concussion. Lions fans should be very worried about the very real possibility of their team returning to the cellar of the NFL. As long as Stafford is around, don’t expect another 0-16 season, but I could see some seasons with only three to six wins in the near future without some major offseason changes.

Sunday Football Afterword

I originally planned to write two separate posts for Sunday’s games. I felt the need to cut it into two posts because there is so much to talk about and so many games to cover that it made sense to do one post for the 1:00 games and a second for the late afternoon and Sunday Night games.

That was before something more important came up, something I believe ranting a little bit about is more pressing than covering any of the games from this Sunday (except for maybe the Sunday Night Game, which I’ll get to in the end).

What the hell is wrong with the NFL today!?! Those of you who have read my blog in the past know that I am generally very tame. I don’t use any questionable language, I don’t let emotion integrate with my writing, but I can’t help myself today.

There is something inherently wrong with a league that allows officials to impact the outcome of games beyond performing their responsibilities.

Last week the replacement refs nearly cost a team their game. When the week ended, the league sent a memo out commending them for the work they performed. COMMENDING!?! NFL games generally last about 3 hours. They rarely last more than 3:15. Yet between last week and this week the average length of the Sunday games has been right around 3:30. What on God’s green earth are we commending?!

Thursday Night, Sunday Night, and Monday Night games are assigned to the ‘best of the replacements.’ So far, those games have actually been pretty well officiated. There have been a few mistakes, a few unnecessary delays, but overall the quality has not been lacking.

That leaves the other replacement refs, the schoolteachers, parents, ‘desk jobbers,’ and apparently even a few fans, to officiate the day games on Sunday. This week the Baltimore Ravens were cost their game. Well, let me revise that slightly.

I place the blame for the Ravens’ loss about 65-70% on the officials and the remaining 30-35% on Baltimore’s offense. Joe Flacco threw a beautiful touchdown pass into tight coverage to Jacoby Jones in the fourth quarter. An official threw a flag (not a yellow penalty flag, mind you, but a blue beanie used to mark the spot of a fumble, or of the beginning of a punt or kickoff return) and called offensive pass interference against Jones.

Now, throwing the wrong flag is forgivable. The ref is still new to this; he grabbed the wrong one and threw it. Okay, I’ll give him a pass on that. But I’ve watched as many replays of that play as I could find online, looking for as many angles as I can get. Unfortunately, there aren’t many replays available. But from every one I’ve seen, there is very little contact by Jones on Nnamdi Asomugha. Yes, Jones extends his arm out, but he doesn’t touch Asomugha with his outstretched arm. It was a BS penalty that would have been picked up had the real officials been out there and conferenced after the play.

So that terrible call is a big part of why Baltimore lost. I can’t place all the blame on the officials though. After all, there were bad calls all game (though the second worst call was a fumble call against Michael Vick that was reversed by challenge). More importantly, Baltimore did get the ball with another chance to drive downfield with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter. They fell short after an incompletion on 4^th & 2.

The Redskins game in St. Louis had just as poor officiating. The refs did everything they could to give it to the Redskins. Well, everything short of not calling an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Josh Morgan with time running down in the fourth quarter. They called one BS late hit against London Fletcher, followed by two BS late hit calls against the Rams on the first couple drives of the first quarter. The officials screwed up again by not giving the Rams a 15-yard penalty when they challenged a turnover (all turnovers are now reviewed by the booth, a 15-yard penalty is supposed to be enforced when coaches challenge such plays). But they made up for that, and more, by taking away a Rams touchdown when Steven Jackson appeared to cross the goal line and then spiked the ball in frustration when the call was delayed. An official ruled no touchdown and then gave Jackson a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty making the play unreviewable by the Rams. St. Louis had to settle for a field goal on the drive.

Now do I blame the replacement refs for their ‘suckishness?’ No, or at least I don’t place the blame entirely on their shoulders. They have botched a lot of obvious calls that they had no business messing up and that I can say with a fair level of certainty that I would not have botched. They have also made some calls that anyone who has not been doing this for years might mess up and should be met with a certain level of understanding. No official is perfect, especially these replacements, and I can forgive them to an extent (though I do draw the line at costing a team a win, as they did in the Ravens’ case).

No, I place the majority of the blame on the NFL for not pushing on with negotiations with the real officials. Last year Roger Goodell said he wanted to make a certain number of the NFL officials full-time employees, but then he can’t get a deal done that will be fair to them. Okay, fine. Then don’t make any of them full-time employees for God’s sake!! The NFL needs to make money. I get that. But Goodell and these owners are sacrificing the integrity of the game, a game that I love and want to make a career out of covering!

I have dedicated so much of my life to studying and understanding football, to learning the history of the National Football League, to examining the best ways to cover it. What have these past two weeks done for me? Not much other than to nearly ruin it all for me. I love football. Even when the teams I like aren’t doing well, I can still enjoy the games because it’s a great sport and every moment is a new one in the history of the sport and a moment that I was, in a way, a part of. Today I spent the afternoon frustrated, beating my head into the wall, nearly punching a hole in it, screaming at my television, and finally walking out with a little over a minute left in the Redskins game because I had gotten to the edge and needed to clear my mind and get some fresh air.

Today was not fun. Today was not football. Sure the 49ers/Lions game was pretty clean, but one good game does not nearly outweigh 13 games that I don’t believe qualify as football.

Ok. I know I need to stop. And I will right now. Let’s go ahead and briefly review the one good game of the day, Detroit at San Francisco.

San Francisco is a championship caliber team. There is so much unknown around the league after two weeks, but the 49ers are very well known. Last year they were good, but managed to fly under the radar much longer than they should have been allowed to. This year, no such luck for them. They came out and played a great game in Lambeau last week and then protected their home field against another playoff team from last year.

But it isn’t just San Francisco’s defense that is playing outstanding football. Their offense is impressive, too. Alex Smith is throwing the ball very well. He has playmakers in his offense. Vernon Davis, as always, showed up today. Mario Manningham had a few big receptions. And Michael Crabtree had a nice game with not many yards but some catches in a few very key moments, including three first down receptions on third down on a late fourth quarter drive that sealed the game. Frank Gore, as always, impressed in the ground attack. This is a complete team and nobody can afford to look past them.

The Lions struggled. Their defense got occasional stops, but it felt like the 49ers broke a big play against them on every drive, even those that didn’t lead to points. Matthew Stafford had no fantasy points at halftime (he managed to finish with around 13 depending on the league scoring you use). Detroit never established a running game and that meant Calvin Johnson couldn’t run open down the field or get in position for jump balls.

Still, it was a great game to watch because I wasn’t constantly waiting for the next screw up by an official. We need more games like that. What do you say Commissioner Goodell? Owners? Can we make it happen? Eh, probably not. And yet, a win is a win. Yeah, why get the real refs back when the fans don’t care that their team was handed a win unfairly? I’m looking at you, Eagles fans, the ones who couldn’t define integrity if its page in the dictionary was opened to and in front of your face. Sorry for the generalization, but it’s accurate for enough of them, so let’s roll with it.

We have one more game left this week. The Broncos and Falcons face off tomorrow night in Atlanta. Matt Ryan looked very Manningesque last week (I’d like to note that when Matt Ryan was a rookie I thought he’d be ‘the next Peyton Manning.’ It hasn’t happened yet, but he looked like he was getting there last week) while Peyton looked like the Manning we’ve been waiting for over a year to see again. It should be a fun game. I’ll be back Tuesday with a recap of that.

(This article was written shortly after midnight on Monday, Sept. 17. It still felt like Sunday to the author, thus the use of ‘today’ language.)