OUTRAGE!!!!!!

Replacements Cost Pack Win

 

 

Strangely, we called it.

In our previous article our preview the Packers/ Hawks turned into a full blown rant on the state of affairs with regard to the replacement officials. In closing we even said the replacements could muddy the water.
 

And it happened in the most unimaginable of ways.
 

Remember baseball umpire Jim Joyce? He was the ump that inexplicably called a runner safe and ruined the Tigers’ Armando Gallaraga’s perfect game with 2 outs in the 9^th?
 

In the immortal words of Jim Joyce when asked afterwards he said “I just s*it all over the play. That kid (Gallaraga) pitched a perfect game and I just s*it all over it.”
 

The horrendous product the NFL has been endorsing and supporting all along had the worst weekend in NFL history and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been blithely saying the officials are doing a good job. But the league has been holding its collective breath and crossing their fingers hoping that the replacements would not cost a team a game.
 

Then – the unthinkable.
 

It has finally happened. The replacement officials, the Keystone Kops of the NFL, have finally cost an NFL team a game. That team is the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks literally stole the game after the morons dressed up for Halloween in referee stripes have finally blown a game so badly there are no words to describe the magnitude of this black eye embarrassment to the NFL.

 

After throwing almost 3 dozen flags throughout the game the final drive of the Seahawks featuring an absolutely horrible flag thrown for pass interference against Sam Shields that cost the Pack 32 yards and kept the final drive of the Seahawks alive. As the shorter Shields gained position on the much taller Sidney Rice it was Rice grabbing, holding and yanking at Shields who turned his head, put up his hand and knocked the ball away. It kept the Hawks’ hopes and drive alive.
 

And then - the idiots in stripes finally blew a game with the entire world watching and there is little
argument on that fact.
 

On the final play of the game, in a play that will last into eternity as one of the most bizarre, unbelievable and outrageous plays Seattle QB Russell Wilson had 6 seconds left when he launched a Hail Mary towards the left corner of the end zone prior to being rocked as Clay Matthews planted Wilson onto his back.
 

 At this point time stops and logic and common sense are suspended. As the ball hung in the air, Seattle WR Golden Tate shoved Packer CB Sam Shields from behind in the most egregious example of offensive pass interference ever seen. The flagrancy of the interference should be saved and shown in the future as to what offensive pass interference looks like.
 

 Tate went up for the ball among a sea of arms and Packer Safety M.D. Jennings got above Tate, grabbed the ball and Tate got his hands under Jennings. But wait – upon further review Tate only got ONE hand on the ball as Jennings gained control by holding the ball to his chest. As Jennings landed on top of Tate he then rolled his arm on top of Jennings as a swarm of bodies pile on. From every conceivable angle it looked for all the world as if Jennings had, in fact, intercepted the ball. He caught it, Tate shoved his hand over top of it, they landed in a heap and Tate tried to roll over only to have Jennings rip the ball away.
 

Cue the calliope to full blast. Into the center ring of the big top is the boss clown in stripes.
 

In what can only be called one of the worst call in the history of sports the erstwhile Mr. Elliott came out with his proclamation “After further review, the call on the field stands, touchdown, Seattle”.
 

HUH??????? WHAT did he say??????????????? TOUCHDOWN?????????
 

The everlasting image that will resonate for years beyond this game will be captured by one replacement, Side Judge Lance Easley – whose glowing resume includes working high school and junior college games - signaling touchdown by raising his arms the other – Back Judge Derrick Rhone-Dunn - giving the wash out to signal a touchback was coming by virtue of the interception. The madness and incompetence of the replacements sunk to new depths as neither official was positioned to make the call. The lead official, Wayne Elliott, the referee who wears the white hat, never called his crew together as even the best veterans crews in the NFL will do. The opportunity to get his crew together and simply say “What did you see?” was missed and blown. The NFL has instituted a review of every scoring play, so the Packers hopes lay in the eyes and hands of the on field Referee Elliott who went under the hood to take a closer look. Even after looking at it in the replay booth Elliott determined it was still a touchdown, all evidence to the contrary.
 

Afterwards Tate was interviewed and ducked and dodged the question about his pushing Shields off as deftly as a politician being pressed about his birth certificate or tax returns. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” said Tate in the postgame on field interview. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” In fact, he sounded more like Gary Coleman caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he knew it. All that was missing to emphasize his guilt was adding the name ‘Willis’ at the end of each utterance. When asked if he did, in fact, catch the ball Tate said “All I know is what we’re taught around her and that’s to keep on competing, and that’s what I did. I kept competing”.
 

Translation: Look at the tape. I didn’t catch the damn ball.
 

The confusion and chaos that surrounded the turmoil had an eerie, surreal feel. Many Packers exited with a stunned look of what the hell just happened here. Even the normally unflappable Aaron Rodgers was clearly ticked when he shoved a camera away. The Packers tweets have blown Twitter sky high, fines for speaking out be damned. LG T.J. Lang was vitriolic in his Tweets saying “If any player/coach in Seattle really thinks they won that game has zero integrity as a man and should be embarrassed.” Last week’s hero TE Tom Crabtree had a much simpler but accurate Tweet. “The 13^th man beat us tonight”, a reference to Seattle’s famed ‘12^th Man’ of the crowd as its decibel level is among the highest in sports.
 

 Before this game was even played Saints QB Drew Brees, one of the most respected players in the league, came out and teed off on the officiating. In a pair of scathing Tweets he said “I love this league and I love the game of football, but tonight’s debacle hurts me greatly. This is NOT the league we’re supposed to represent” and “Ironic that out league punishes those based on conduct detrimental. Whose CODUCT is DETRIEMNTAL now?” If the league is hell-bent on imposing fines there is going to be a long line outside the principal’s office on Park Place. The coaches can no longer contain themselves. At this writing Denver’s John Fox and Jack Del Rio have both been fined along with the Ravens John Harbaugh. Even the least likely coach to melt down, the Patriots Bill Belichick, will be hauled in for grabbing the arm of an official as they ran off the field.
 

 Credit must be given for an obviously livid Mike McCarthy who opened his post-game press conference by flatly stating “Don’t ask me a question about the officials, so we’ll just cut to the chase right there”. MM was seething as he opened the interview and somehow managed to contain his anger. McCarthy was patient in answering the media’s questions but anyone with a pair of eyes could see MM steaming under the surface. QB Aaron Rodgers also said tersely “Look at the replay” when asked if he thought it was an interception and a simple “It was awful” when asked his feelings about the call. Rodgers also shook his head in disdain when he added “and the fact that it was reviewed” in regard to the call on the field as he added a dismissive shrug of his shoulders knowing there is little that can be done.
 

On the flip side the smug arrogance of the Seahawks’ Head Coach Pete Carroll who whooped it up on the field when the call was made but his post-game comments rang hollow when he said “Good call.” Many Packers fumed on Twitter about the call openly. In reality the Hawks earn no respect in claiming victory.
 

Both Rodgers and McCarthy came out and were holding their tongues and tempers just under the surface “We never should have put ourselves in the position” Rodgers said when asked about the end call.
 

And he is right.  Rodgers was chased, harassed, hurried, hit and sacked 8 times in the first half as the Pack hung a goose egg on the scoreboard while Seattle took a 7-0 lead in by way of a Wilson bomb to Tate for 41 yards as Tramon Williams and Charles Woodson were caught flat footed as Tate broke his deep route to the post. The Seattle defense was ready for ARod and company, DE Chris Clemons had a career day with 4 sacks and the rest of the swarming Hawks D stifled the Packers.
 

MM made some necessary adjustments at half time as the Packers came out and methodically pounded the ball as the OLine began to get push and RB Cedric Benson repeatedly hammered the ball inside. The Packers dominated the 2^nd half and were relentless in moving the ball. But there were offensive miscues. Dropped passes by the receiving corps along with ghost calls but the goofballs…replacements… continue to plague the pack. After MM successfully challenged the spot of the ball Benson finally punched it in from the 1 to give the Packers the lead.

 

In the comedy of errors that has become this season league wide Rodgers also said that he was throwing a “…kicking ball…” on the 2 point attempt. For the uninformed there really ARE two different types of balls used. The ‘Kicking Ball’ is inflated slightly more than a Game Ball to give the kickers more control and to allow the quarterback a firmer grip. But the Packers still did not execute when it mattered most.
 

 This game needs little by way of analysis as the game itself is secondary to the big story of how the replacements cost the Packers a win. In the big picture this game could potentially have an impact on the playoffs. There are only 16 opportunities to get into the big dance, and when even 1 is taken, stolen, or blown it makes a difference. This game and play will forever be known simply as “The Call” as it will overshadow anything else around it including the game and last long into the future. It is a sad commentary that what is relevant in the NFL is no longer the game but the incompetence of the officials the league trots out to keep it fair and square.
 

 The two benchmarks of the NFL have been “Player Safety” and “The INTEGRITY” of the game. Both have been severely compromised and both are in serious jeopardy as long as the NFL keeps sending out crews that are clearly and obviously incapable of doing the job.