It took three weeks, but the NFL may have just lost whatever was left of its bargaining power in the prolonged referee holdout.
A controversial touchdown awarded to Golden Tate on a last second Hail Mary play gave the Seahawks a miracle win over the Packers, but all the post-game headlines have focussed on the poor refereeing decision.
The league has been without its regular referees all year as a pay dispute lingers. While mistakes have been made, nothing topped the circus that was witnessed on Monday night.
As time expired, Russell Wilson hurled the ball 40 yards to the end zone where M.D. Jennings appeared to have an interception for Green Bay.
One line judge signalled a pick, the other a touchdown for Tate.
After several minutes referring to the tape, the replacement referees awarded the score and the game was over, to the utter disbelief of Green Bay Head Coach Mike McCarthy and players – many of which turned to social media to vent their anger in the ensuing hours.
Talk of this incident will continue for days, if not weeks and may yet prove to be the catalyst for the NFL to broker a deal with its regular referees.
Outside of Green Bay however, another team not thrilled with this outcome is New Orleans, which will make one of the toughest road trips in football to meet the fuming Packers at Lambeau Field. Pencil that in as a ‘must watch’ in week four.
Leading 24-6 in the third quarter against the also winless Kansas City Chiefs, the Saints crumpled. Jamaal Charles ran wild for 233 yards and the defence kept Drew Brees’ high-powered offence scoreless in the second half as Kansas prevailed 27-24 in overtime.
Remarkably by week three in a season of surprises, two pre-season Superbowl fancies in the Packers and Saints have already matched their 2011 season loss totals.
With just a treble of 3-0 teams left standing, Arizona is perhaps the most surprising. After accounting for the Seahawks and Patriots in the opening fortnight, the Cardinals thrashed the Eagles 27-6.
Michael Vick was hurried and hit with relentless regularity, before a fumble on the stroke of half time caused a likely 14-point turnaround as the Cards ran it back 93 yards for a touchdown.
The new Superbowl-favourite Houston Texans continue to impress as a hard-fought 31-25 victory at Denver propelled them to their third win, while the Atlanta Falcons improved to the same record with a 27-3 triumph at San Diego.
After dropping a bruising Sunday night encounter at Baltimore, the New England Patriots (1-2) fell below .500 for the first time since 2003. This is welcome news for the AFC East which is suddenly up for grabs with the resurgent Bills prevailing comfortably at winless Cleveland and the Jets saluting in overtime against Miami in an early contender for ugliest game of the season.
Although now leading the division, New York was crippled with news of a season-ending knee injury to star player and arguably the NFL’s best cornerback Darelle Ravis. The Jets will be sternly tested in coming weeks with clashes against San Francisco, Houston and New England on the cards.
On the other side of the Big Apple, the Giants continue to perplex fans and pundits alike.
After a disappointing season-opening loss and a forgettable first half against Tampa Bay (saved only by the brilliance of Eli Manning), the undermanned Giants went to Carolina and emerged with a 36-7 victory.
Still battered by injuries, the Superbowl champs can take a great deal of confidence from this win, and from the performance of third-string running back Andre Brown who rushed for 113 and a pair of touchdowns.
The wildest game of the week occurred at Tennessee where the Lions scored 14 points in the final 18 seconds of regulation, capped by a Hail Mary catch by Titus Young to force overtime.
However Detroit’s victory plans were scuppered with a gutsy (or insane, depending who you ask) play call on 4th and 1 deep in Titans’ territory. A touchdown would have won it while the chip shot field goal would have merely continued the action after Tennessee’s earlier score.
It’s decisions like that which make NFL one of the greatest and most tactical leagues on earth.
Jacksonville secured its first win of the season with a hard-fought 22-19 triumph at Indianapolis, despite the 313 yards thrown by number one draft pick Andrew Luck who is appearing to be everything we thought he’d be in his rookie year.
RGIII fever in the nation’s capital came back to earth with a thud despite a solid game from the other rookie quarterback making headlines. It was Andy Dalton’s 328 yards and three touchdown passes however that stole the points, and the limelight in Washington, as the Bengals prevailed 38-31.
In one of the shocks of the week, the upstart Vikings led all day against the 49ers. Christian Ponder threw for two touchdowns and ran a third in himself to shock San Francisco 24-13 which now faces the three New York teams in the next three weeks (Jets away followed by Bills and Giants at home).
While Minnesota is the surprise leader of the NFL North, Chicago moved into second place with a 23-6 win over St Louis. Michael Bush scored the only offensive touchdown of the day in a game dominated by defence, special teams and kickers, who accounted for 17 of the game’s 29 points.
In Dallas, the Cowboys started their season a home with an ugly but hard-fought 16-10 win over the Buccaneers. Just 463 net yards, one touchdown, 12 punts and five turnovers combined didn’t make it one for the ages, but it won’t matter for Dallas who moves to the head of the NFC East.
Oakland’s lacklustre start to the year continued at the hands of Pittsburgh, inspired by a renaissance 384-yard, four touchdown game by Ben Roethlisberger. Both teams now sit at 1-2, but Steelers fans are likely to be far more optimistic at their prospects compared to the Raiders who have looked dismal in their two losses to date.
WEEK 3 AT A GLANCE:
Most impressive team performance: It’s hard to split the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks who proved that defence wins football games (and in the case of the latter, a perplexing refereeing call). The Cardinals sacked Vick five times, which not only negated his flow, but caused a game-defining turnover just prior to half time.
The Seahawks meanwhile got to NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers seven times in the first half (eight overall). Despite the late game controversy, Seattle kept it close all night by virtue of their smothering defence.
Most impressive individual performance: Jamaal Charles almost single-handedly destroyed New Orleans with 233 yards, including a team record 91-yard bust, however the Chiefs’ victory couldn’t have occurred without the boot of Ryan Succop. While Charles certainly comes out on top, Succop’s 6/6 day (including clutch game-tying and game-winning field goals) helped Kansas to its first win of the season.
Team exceeding expectations: The 3-0 Arizona Cardinals have opened with wins over Seattle, New England and Philadelphia. Nobody saw that coming, even if they’ve played two of the three at home.
Team not reaching expectations: New Orleans Saints, without any shadow of a doubt. With each passing week, it’s looking less and less likely that this team will have the opportunity to compete for a Superbowl in its own backyard. At 0-3 with a trip to Green Bay on deck and the runaway Falcons dictating terms in the south, the Saints need to re-focus, and fast.
B.A Sports
Agree Arizona offence is flawed but they have beaten Seattle, Eagles and Pats (on the road). They are some decent scalps. Niner's offence had its flaws last year and they were a dopey special teams player away from making the SB, I think Arizona could at least cause some headaches in the playoffs
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
Can't get angry at the officials for that one - they know as much as anyone they don't have the necessary experience, especially at that level. They couldn't get NCAA Div I guys so they had to go to Div II and III. They're doing their best and if their best were good enough, well they'd probably already be in a higher division. Its not a situation they should have to be in. PS. from what I recall the two signals the referees were giving were Time Off and Touchdown.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
The Rams' defense isnt appalling, either. Whoever wins the division will earn it.
Worlds biggest
Guest
The NFC West is now for real, after being a laughing stock for years this division now boasts 3 mean Defences. My Niners will have there work cut out winning the Division. They need a strong bounce back game against the Jets. Go Niners !
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
BA Sports, The regular NFL referees are the best in the world at what they do. They are as good as any $100 000 a day corporate lawyer, M+A specialist, film producer or - yes - any of the athletes out on the paddock. Hiring second-rate replacements has the results you've seen. If you want monkeys, pay peanuts. Dump the politics of envy, and pay skilled labour what it's worth.
Chop
Guest
I completely agree Tigranes, I had $$ on Green Bay last night and am also a Green Bay supporter. I think every code has issues with refereeing, look at the NRL, NFL even soccer has issues with howler decisions. IIRC they also wanted to pay the extra officials (which I'm happy with the accountability angle) out of the same pool of cash which means everyone gets less.
Chop
Guest
They want them to be full time, but are not compensating them for having to ditch their other jobs, it sounds like a drop in wages. I agree the super sounds over the top, but 2% on top of the part time wage to go full time just seems completely unrealistic.
Eric George
Roar Rookie
Not really sure how Seattle or Arizona could be considered the most impressive performances from an entire team. Neither team was able to produce much offensively. For mine, I'd say that Houston and Baltimore were the most consistently impressive teams this week. Both had an impressive day passing and rushing, and got strong showings from their defence against quite talented units.
B.A Sports
Re the touchdown. They brought in a rule two years ago that all touchdowns get reviewed now. They brought in a rule this year that all turnovers get reviewed. We basically had that in the NRL a few seasons a go with video ref's tipping off on field refs about strips etc and it didn't work, so i wouldn't see that coming across. NRL refs and linesmen do confur as it is, its jus they are all wired up to each other, where the NFL guys aren't.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
BTW loving what the Bengals are now doing after the week 1 disaster against the Ravens. If we can work out how to get our secondary performing, we will be a force to be reckoned with.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Its what happens when you get amateurs in (none even have adjudicated at College level, most are high school level referees), especially as the players have very little respect for there abilities and really push the rules harder than they would with the professionals that were in place before who wouldn't allow that to occur. For me it says the NRL is on the right path with 2 ref's on the field, just need to think a little more outside the square how the overall system works, and what things could be put in place to make it better. For me it's simple, just make it captains/coach challenge, and let the ref's get back to calling the game as they see it. It would mean less video ref decisions, and a better quality of refereeing on the field as any bad calls would not be on the ref's head as much, but on the captain/coach who didn't challenge it.
Razza
Guest
Well i dont follow or understand the NFL, but i did watch a game this morning and there was an incident where two officials awarded a touch down, but it went under review ?? and the decision was reversed. Now seeing that the NRL have almost adopted the NFL'S field markings , eg 10, 20, 30, 40 mtr lines (not like it used to be), then why dont they adopt some rules also, like the one mentioned above. Seeing that we are having trouble also with ref's wrong calls including the video ref, they could have an on the spot committee like the NFL, it may take a little time to come to a decision, but it would be the only way to put and end to this bickering and wrong calls that has been going on. I dont think the players would have a problem with reversing a ref's call by an on the spot committee, they only have six tackles to score a try and alot of work physically and mentally goes into it to have a try disallowed when it was a try, or the reverse. I think we have got to move with the times, the players are bigger, more skilled and faster then years ago and everything moves alot faster with it, also they could have a super zoom lens on their camera's to really get in close, not like now where they play the same footage over and over then give a try on benefit of the doubt. It is also good to see another code in another counrty is have the same problem with ref's, not that we want it, but it just shows that they are human and not super human.
Cam Larkin
Roar Guru
They are also not happy with Mr. Goodell wanting to have a back up pool of refs similar to the AFL and VFL - ensuring accountability is there. The refs are too concerned that they may be sacked for a week or two for making bad calls. I like that ol' Roger wants this in place.
Tigranes
Guest
Chop to an extent the integrity of the NFL is in question - you need fulltime referees in what is the most professionally run sporting league in the world. And they say rugby union is the only sport where the referees are an issue!!
B.A Sports
Like i say it takes two to negotiate so Goodell is a big part of the problem. There is no plan to drop their wages as i understand it. The NFL offerered them a 2% pay rise, they wanted 8%. They are asking for $38,000 in their pension fund per annum – are you kidding me! $38k in super for part-time workers – that is a joke. That is more than the average pension fund for full time workers and these guys work less than 10 hours a week for 20 weeks in a year. The owners are not the only ones who are greedy.....
Chop
Guest
Goodell should be coping it for the situation with the officials. Would you be happy if in your next CBA they DROPPED your wages, CANCELLED pension contributions and added another group of people who will be paid out of the pool of money for officials. Goodell is the representative of the owners who IMO are penny pinching at it's worst, he needs to go back and tell them if they don't at least preserve the conditions of the last agreement this whole season will be decided by numty's who are guessing.
Will Sinclair
Guest
Maybe Sean Hampstead can get a job in the NFL?
B.A Sports
Goodell is copping it big time for this situation with the officials. But I don't understand why there has been no vitriol aimed at the officials and their union? It takes two to negotiate and it seems the Ref's union isn't coming to the party at all. The fill-in ref's are getting blamed for everything. I am suprised they don't get blamed for Andy Reid's ineptness. Serisouly how is it LeSean McCoy touches the ball less than 20 times in a game - not just a game, in a game where you are missing your next best attacking option (Maclin)?! Not only are New Orleans 0-3 but for the three teams they have lost to, KC, Carolina and Washington, for those respective clubs, New Orleans represents their only wins of the season.