2012 NFL Regular Season - Week 2 Thread: Can the Packers Rebound?

[Chief Rum]

By "tops" he means that week is the ceiling, the best case scenario.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

By "tops" he means that week is the ceiling, the best case scenario.

Yeeeeeeah ... and I'm thinking he's put that ceiling way too high.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

No, they won't. NFL refs are in the NFL because they're simply the best at what they do. These guys aren't even 2nd tier, because those guys wouldn't volunteer to be NFL replacement refs - they want a shot at becoming full-time NFL refs in the future and replacements don't get that opportunity (union). So these guys are DII, DIII and high school refs. They're the equivalent of the players of the Endicott Gulls or the Angelo State Rams playing in the NFL. On rare occasions, you might have one guy who has the talent to do it. But most of these guys will *never* become solid NFL referees.

The refereeing is downright awful. Terrible. Cringe-worthy. It's so bad that it is having a major negative impact on the product. I watched part of the Eagles-Baltimore game and most of the Jets-Steelers. The Vick "fumble" was so bad of a call it was laughable. The Ike Taylor pass interference was, according to Ross Tucker (who called the game), the "worst call he's ever seen". The Manny Sanders spot was incredibly poor. I saw referees throw flags only when players started complaining. The list goes on and on. And it's not just the obvious stuff. The OLs and DLs are grabbing each other's face masks on virtually every snap. There are crack-back blocks, forearms, grabbing, clutching and none of it is getting called. Is it any wonder why the games are getting testy?

While the NFL may put out some sort of rule regarding the pushing and shoving ("hey, we're going to eject you"), the problem is that until all that other stuff gets under control, players are going to get hot under the collar. It's the Wild West out there right now and people's livelihoods are in jeopardy when the games aren't being called right.

The refereeing is an embarrassment and there's no other way to phrase it. It's having a major negative impact on the product. The quality of play isn't as good, the calls are horrid and the games are taking far, far too long (why do these guys feel the need to convene before every single solitary call?). It probably won't get appreciably better until we get the real NFL refs back. Here's hoping both sides budge a bit and the real zebras get back on the field soon.

Even the worst idiots will improve given the chance. And I think they want to crush the union so I don't know if we will see these refs come back as a union. Maybe as individual refs. Personally I could care less if the so called "real" refs come back......