Replacement Officials Worse Than Ever

    Anyone who gave the replacement officials credit for doing a "good job" in Week 1 is eating their words after Week 2. I tee'd off on the replacements last week, while all the analysts sat back and said they were doing fine. Now after a horrid job of officiating during Week 2, especially during the Monday night game on prime time television, all of the analysts are saying the replacements can't handle the job. I told you so.
     There are two MAJOR issues with the replacement refs that everyone is now finally realizing. They clearly lack an understanding of the rules, which leads to the referees having to huddle after almost every flag is thrown. There are far too many stoppages with these officials, and they take too long to agree on a call (if they even get it right). The games are taking WAY too long. The first half of the Monday night game took two hours! Ridiculous.
    The lack of knowledge of the rules is also forcing coaches to use challenges to correct obvious calls, and more importantly might be starting to become a player safety issue. On Monday night the referees got a pass interference call wrong which forced Broncos head coach John Fox to, in my opinion, waste a challenge just to get the call he should have gotten in the first place. On a passing play, if the ball is tipped prior to any contact or interference with a receiver then there can't be a flag for pass interference. That is exactly what happened on a 3rd down pass from Matt Ryan (a tipped pass, with contact occuring afterward) and surprise - the replacement refs got it wrong. They called pass interference on Denver and John Fox threw the challenge flag. Fox won the challenge and Denver ended up with the ball after a punt, but a coach shouldn't be forced to use a challenge because the referees are doing a bad job.
    Then, during the Sunday night game between the Lions and 49ers there was a play where Matthew Stafford was trying to avoid a sack, but ended up down by contact when his knee hit the ground. At least that's what should have happened. The referees never blew the whistle, so Stafford got back up and tried to make a play out of it only to get hit again for an ever bigger loss than it originally was. Lions coach Jim Shwartz was forced to challenge the spot of the ball so he could get back the 6 yards he should've had in the first place. This caused another annoying stoppage in play, but it also raised the issue of player safety with Stafford unnecessarily being put in harms way. Later in that game 49ers quarterback Alex Smith slid at the end of a run, which by rule is the quarterback declaring himself down, and was hit after going down by a Lion defender. Smith even had a bloody nose when he got up. There was no flag.
    The scariest no call though happened during the Seahawks/Cowboys game. Seahawks receiver Golden Tate laid a massive hit on Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee. It was a blatant helmet to helmet hit, the kind of hit that usually leads to a concussion and a massive fine or suspension for the player who threw the hit. The refs didn't call a penalty on Tate, and I haven't heard any talks of any fines for the receiver. Are you kidding me? Isn't player safety the commissioner's biggest concern? Isn't that why the New Orleans bounty scandal is still going on? Isn't that why Steelers linebacker James Harrison has been fined multiple times? Isn't that why there was a controversy over concussions? How has Goodell not taken notice to these calls yet?
    The other major issue is that these referees have zero control over the games. Defenses know exactly what they can get away with now after two weeks with these crews, and its lead to some very chippy games. I can definitely see a brawl breaking out during next weeks games. The refs need to start making more calls on the defenses. Secondaries, for one, are getting away with murder on almost every play. I'm getting sick of watching a hold or illegal contact not get called on the cornerbacks. Then when the receivers get frustrated and fight back they're the ones who are get flagged. Anyone see the Redskins/Rams game? Oh boy.
    What about the Ravens/Eagles game? This was actually a game changing call, in my opinion. I remember watching it and seeing Jacoby Jones catch a touchdown that would've most likely iced the game. Oh wait, the referees called offensive pass interference? The ref who made the call didn't even throw a flag! Nevermind the fact that it didn't look like anything close to a push off. The Ravens ended up losing that game. Flacco said that the referees are "affecting the integrity of the game" during post game interviews. You know what? He's exactly right (told you so, again).
    There were other bad calls this week too, of course. So many that I could actually go on about them for days if I wanted to. There was a blatant phantom pass interference call during the Steelers/Jets game on Ike Taylor (he was literally NO WHERE near the receiver). There was also a questionable holding call that negated a game winning touchdown for the Patriots during their game. By my math that's now TWO game changing calls. The NFL needs to start taking notice.
    How can the NFL not see that this is damaging their product? Fans are clearly angry, and we're also starting to see it more and more out of players and coaches. Ultimately though we, the fans, are the suckers here. As frustrated and annoyed as we are with these officials we're still watching the games, and the NFL is still making money. As long as the owners are making their money they're happy, and the replacement refs will most likely stay. Will a boycott be needed to open the NFL's eyes? I hope not, because I (and many others) probably couldn't do it. But how much more of this bad officiating will we have to endure before the NFL gets the regular referees back? Will the NFL realize on their own that the replacement refs are hurting the league? I know I speak for all of us when I say please, just give the regular refs what they want.