To quote Lombardi, “What the hell’s going on out here?”
It’s okay, Vince. The NFL’s replacement officials don’t seem to know, either. There’s a general rule that officials had a good game if you didn’t notice them. Memo to Mr. Goodell: People are noticing. No calls, missed calls and generally not knowing the rules is starting to get to the players. And it’s only going to get worse when a major blunder costs a team a victory or even a player.
“The NFL and everybody always talk about the integrity of the game. I think this is kind of along those lines,” said Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. “Not to say these guys are doing a bad job, but the fact that we don’t have the normal guys out there is pretty crazy.”
Exactly.
Crazy also describes Tampa coach Greg Schiano’s game plan. Trailing 41-34 in the closing seconds, Schiano ordered his team to crash the Giants’ offensive line to get to QB Eli Manning before he could take a knee. The goal was to force a fumble. It didn’t work and Manning went flailing backward.
The Giants’ offensive line didn’t think too kindly of it, either. Sure, Schiano was doing everything he could to help his team win. But the chance of causing a fumble on a kneel down is incredibly slim. And it won’t be forgotten by the other teams. I’m sure Tampa QB Josh Freeman is looking forward to his next kneel down. He’d be wise to take it out of the shotgun formation.
In Jacksonville, security took a knee watching a fan run around the field — for 55 seconds — almost begging for someone to chase him. As the yellow shirts watched, one security guard finally gave chase but failed to bring him down. Jaguars defensive back Dwight Lowery ran the fan down, but unfortunately stopped short of a tackle. There are two jokes going around Jacksonville: One is the stadium security. Two is that fan has rushed for more yards than Jaguars’ star Maurice Jones-Drew.
If the NFL isn’t careful, it could become the third.
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