And the NFL of course issues statement that they are totally behind the call in Seattle last night.
I give you Chris Schultz from TSN, who has a good take on things ; and also since he is paid to write, he can do it without wanting to hang someone by their ankles and use them for bayonet practice.
Well, I can say with great confidence after the finish to Monday night's game between the Seahawks and Packers, it just not going to work out for the NFL. It is time to swallow their pride, take the punch and do what is necessary to get the officials back where they are supposed to be.
On the final play, Golden Tate pushed Sam Shields out of the way, which is offensive pass interference. Then, M.D. Jennings had the ball secure across his chest, which means he had control at the end of the play. It was an interception.
And, this is very disturbing, because it was a scoring play was subject to review and still they did not reverse the call. The reason they did not reverse the call is mind-numbing to me. I do not understand at all what they saw and concluded that was so easy to see and conclude.
So moving forward, where do football fans go from here. What should the NFL do? I say give in. It may come across as a point of weakness and maybe it is but, sometimes in life, hopefully not too many times, you're wrong, I am wrong, it's wrong. Whether it is the NFL owners or Roger Goodell himself, it is time to take your ego out of the decision-making process and create a deal as fast as possible.
Now, to you and me, this looks easy. The referees have won because the replacement referees are not experienced enough to call a game effectively each and every play. But there needs to be a separation between logic and emotion. The problem is that that separation does not always happen because ego and competition takes over.
Truth is, there is no competition here. The referees won, the replacement referees lost. It's over. Or is it?
The problem now is that someone has to take a self-image hit and it probably needs to be Roger Goodell as face of the league. But will he do it? It is one thing to privately say you win, I lose. It is another to express it in a public forum.
There are decisions made out of common sense and logic and then there are others made with the influence of emotion and professional title. And that is a problem here; this is a win-lose scenario, not win-win. Is the NFL ready to admit what they have right now is not good enough compared to what they did have? If a decision is not reached soon, then the influence of ego and power control is written all over it.
Come mid-December, what has happened here in late September will be re-visited, not due to a new set of circumstances but because of playoff implications and desires of a 10-win season. It will affect the 49ers, Rams and Cardinals in the NFC West and the Bears, Lions and Vikings in the NFC North. It could also affect who has home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs and definitely affect draft position for both teams, which in turn affects all teams.
The truth is that what happened on Monday night will go down as one of the most inaccurate calls, not just in football, but in all of sports. And right now, as a fellow football fan, you can only hope, wish and desire that logic overrides all. The problem is that history says that it does not happen the majority of the time. What a mess!
And if a picture is worth a thousand words, then here's a few thou that covers the entire fiasco in one shot
