Ravens beat Browns in a tight one

The Ravens were victorious last night beating the Browns 23-16. The Browns definitely could have won that game even though heading into it everyone said they didn't stand a chance. This Cleveland team has been plagued by dropped passes, a category in which they lead the league. As for the Ravens, Joe Flacco played well throwing 28 passes for 356 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and one rushing touchdown. The rain was coming down hard which is why I was surprised to see the Ravens throw the ball as much as they did. Ray Rice only ran the ball 18 times.
The regular officials got a standing ovation when they ran onto the field last night but it didn't take very long until the crowd started booing calls against the home team; there's just no pleasing fans.

Lockout is coming to an end

Reports say that team owners and the officials are on the verge of an agreement. It's said that if a deal is struck the real referees would return to action this week starting with tomorrow's Thursday Night Football match up between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. Once they're back on the field the game will move at a faster pace, penalties will have clear explanations, there won't be as much extra contact after the whistle, and all the talk about replacement officials will be over. Holly luya!

Seahawks defense shines in last night's victory over Packers

Clearly the talk of the day pertains to the officials ruling the final play of the game as a Seahawks' touchdown when actually Green Bay intercepted the ball. That blunder by the refs is overshadowing the dominant performance of the Seattle defense. That unit sacked Aaron Rodgers 8 times and held the Packers' offense to a mere 12 points. The secondary blanketed the Green Bay receivers. A very impressive outing by the Seattle Seahawks.

Revis tears ACL

Jets All Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis suffered a torn ACL in Sundays overtime win against the Dolphins. NFL.com reports the injury is going to require surgery. The Jets looked at best like an eight win team but without Revis on the field, going .500 on the season may be a longshot.

Please give us the regular officials

I can't believe how much these replacement referees are hurting the game. Such terrible calls in tonight's Patriots at Ravens match up, phantom calls all over the place. I'm speechless really. The NFL is a multibillion dollar industry, get the real officials back on the field because this is, for lack of a better term, a joke.

Coaches and players to lighten up on refs

The league sent out a memo to all 32 teams telling players and coaches to stop trying to intimidate these replacement officials. And I for one agree with that demand seeing how it's been blateantly obvious that the behavior towards to officials is much more aggressive from both the players and coaches. We'll likely see less aggression from the teams staff and possibly more courage from the officials. As I'm sure everyone has noticed, there has been a lot of extra curricular activity going on after plays are blown dead (pushing, shoving, scuffles, etc.) and I for one enjoy that part of game, but the officials need to grow a pair and take control of those situations. They need to do a better job seperating the players and informing the players and coaches that it isn't going to tolerated. I'm certainly going to have my eyes on the officials (more than usual) today.

Pats will struggle without Hernandez

In Sunday's loss to Arizona the Patriots loss their most important weapon on offense, Aaron Hernandez, after he suffered an ankle injury early in the first quarter. His injury appears to be a high ankle sprain which means he'll likely be out for at least one month. As we witnessed yezterday, this offense struggles without Hernandez. His ability to line up anywhere on the field makes him a nightmare for opposing defenses. He lines up in the backfield, in the slot, out wide, and next to the tackle as a tight end. He has become Brady's go to guy and with him on the shelf it's likely Welker is going to see more passes. The Pats are at Baltimore this Sunday and as always the Ravens have a solid defense lead by future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis. After seeing how Brady and the offense struggled against the Cardinals defense it's going to be more difficult to move the ball against a very tough and physical Ravens defense.

Bucs played clean

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and his players were clearly upset when Eli Manning was knocked down as he took a knee to end the game against the Buccaneers. Anybody who thinks the Bucs delivered a "cheap shot" on that play is a either an idiot or a drama queen. In this case the Giants are drama queens. The Bucs defensive line pushed the Giants offensive line backwards into Manning forcing him to gently fall to the ground. Yeah, that's quite a cheap shot (heavy sarcasm). Tampa Bay did what every team should: don't let up until you're told the game is over.

Packers defense too much for Bears

I thought that the Bears would beat the Packers and more importantly that their larger wide receivers would be too much for Green Bay's secondary to handle. I was dead wrong. In the 23-10 victory the Packers defense sacked Jay Cutler seven times, three and a half by Clay Matthews, and intercepted four of his passes. In a division like the NFC North, where all the teams have a fierce pass rush, the Bears need to do a better job protecting Jay Cutler if they want to be playing football in January.

The oldest rivalry in the book

The Bears and Packers square off tonight for the 185th time. Wow that's a lot of games! Jay Cutler has his old-new favorite target Brandon Marshall, a healthy Matt Forte, and as always a strong defense. The Packers have listed Greg Jennings as doubtful and while that's a fairly big loss this offense has depth at the receiver position. But I think the Packers secondary is in for a tough night going up against this dangerous Chicago offense. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery are tall and strong receivers that can out-muscle and out-leap defenders. Add the Matt Forte into the mix and you get a balanced attack.
After losing to the 49ers on Sunday it's hard to vote against Green Bay playing at home tonight but I just have a feeling they're going to come up short tonight. Bears 27 Packers 24

I could get use to these replacement refs

Like the usual referees, the replacements made some mistakes. However, they officiated a lot better than I expected them to. A true luxury from these replacement refs is that we're seeing much less defensive pass interference calls compared to previous seasons. Wide receivers are by far the whiniest players on the field constantly complaining to the officials. If I had a nickel for every time I saw a receiver drop a ball, throw his hands in the air and look towards the referees resulting in a defensive pass interference call, I wouldn't still be living with my rents. Hopefully the league doesn't do or say anything to change that part of the game... again. 

Pats defense and running game shine in season opener

There were two eye openers in the Patriots victory against the Titans: 1) Stevan Ridley is a quality back and 2) This young defense looks pretty good. Ridley ran for 125 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries and caught two passes for 27 yards. He showed good vision and burst through the line of scrimmage and used his blockers very well. I was very impressed by his performance. On the other side of the ball the defense was pretty good. Their first first three draft choices from April (Chandler Jones, Donta Hightower, and Tavon Wilson) made big plays. Chandler Jones strip sacked Jake Locker and the fumble was recovered and taken in for a touchdown by Hightower. Tavon Wilson recorded an interception. The pass defense needs to improve but as far as stopping the run goes, they were phenomenal holding the Titans to a mere 20 yards rushing. There will obviously be games where the defense struggles but from what we saw yesterday this defense is much improved from last season.

RG3 shines while his fellow rookie quarterbacks struggle

Five rookie quarterbacks started week one; Robert Griffin III (WAS), Andrew Luck (IND), Brandon Weeden (CLE), Ryan Tannehill (MIA), and Russell Wilson (SEA). But only Robert Griffin III came out victorious and put on a stellar performance completing 19 of his 26 passes for 320 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions as he lead the Skins to a 40-32 upset victory in the Saints' Super Dome. Griffin didn't look like a rookie yesterday, but a four year veteran. His fellow rookie signal callers, well they had rookie written all over them. Andrew Luck, Brandon Weeden, and Ryan Tannehill each threw three interceptions. Russell Wilson threw only one pick in his struggling debut against the Cardinals.

Bounty Gate conclusion?

The suspensions of Johnathan Vilma, Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, and Will Smith have been overturned and all are eligible to play this Sunday. Initially the Commissioner suspended Vilma for the entire season, Hargrove for 8 games, Smith for 4 games, and Fujita for 3 games. This is huge for the Saints now that Vilma is back to lead the defense. We'll probably hear more about the bounty gate scandal throughout the season as Commissioner Goodell will look to prove there was intent to injure among the Saints players.

Refs did well in season opener

As I've said before, I thought that these replacement referees were going to be as mediocre as they were in the preseason but that clearly wasn't the case. I was very impressed by the officiating crew last night. The defending Super Bowl champion Giants opened the season against their division rival Cowboys in a nationally televised game putting that much more pressure on this crew of replacement officials. They brought their A game and did a hell of a job. Yes, there were some missed calls but you'll see that in every game regardless of who the referees are. If these replacements continue officiating this well we can expect the lockout to go on for awhile.

Demps on IR

I stated that I believed Patriots running back and former Olympian Jeff Demps was going to be a weapon for New England this season but that will not be the case this season as Demps has been placed on injured reserve with a lower leg injury; boy was I furious when I heard about that. We'll have to wait until the 2013 season to see him in action.