What do we know about the young NFL season so far?
There are plenty of headlines and big stories out there that it is too difficult to focus on one, it seems that every season there are so many things happening at the beginning that make football fans wonder what is going on.
Let’s start with everyone’s favorite topic, the wonderful replacement referees. The scrubs that the NFL had to lean on when the NFL referees went on strike. The League’s refusal to meet the demands of their referees led to this state of near chaos and crisis within the NFL.
At times these backup referees look like they are calling a middle school football game. It is normal for viewers to watch a game and wonder what is going on, but a referee should always be aware of what is happening on the field.
In the first three weeks of the season there have been so many missed calls, bad calls, dumb decisions, and confusion from the replacements that it is a miracle more games weren’t decided by these decisions.
This past Sunday they charged the Broncos a timeout when they shouldn’t have, it took the Broncos coach John Fox disagreeing with the referees to turn their decision around. In week two there were several near brawls between teams that the backup referees could not seem to control.
And in week one the replacements awarded the Seattle Seahawks with a fourth timeout in the last two minutes of the game when they were driving down the field trying to score.
How does this happen? Thankfully that decision to award the Seahawks with a fourth timeout didn’t cost the Cardinals the game, but still, who is not doing their job when a team gets four timeouts?
The NFL better pay the referees the money they want, otherwise things could get ugly.
Also, after three weeks of football there are only three undefeated teams remaining. The Atlanta Falcons, the Houston Texans, and the Arizona Cardinals — yes, no one is really sure how they are still undefeated.
A crazy win against Seattle in week one, followed by an outstanding upset of the Patriots in New England in week two, topped off by the 27-6 win over the Eagles this past week sees the Cardinals as one of the top runners in the NFC. We’ll see how long that lasts.
On the other end of the spectrum are the two winless teams, the Cleveland Browns and the New Orleans Saints. No surprise on the Browns spot, but it is hard to believe that even with the absence of Sean Payton that the Saints would start the season 0-3.
Those are the only consistent things in an NFL season that is full of inconsistencies. It is difficult to make any judgments week to week.
After two weeks everyone believed that the 49ers were the clear cut best team in the league, and then in week three they lose to the Vikings.
Jets look great in week one but get thrown around by the Steelers in week two only to squeak by the Dolphins in week three. While the Steelers fall short to the Broncos in week one and the Raiders in week three, who up until week three have been struggling to score points.
These are a few of many crazy headlines this season; it should be a fun one. Let’s just hope we get to see the return of the NFL referees.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to tyrollason@yahoo.com.
