Think back to your days on the 8th grade football team. If you’re like us, you sat on the bench daydreaming about girls while the man-child that could already grow a beard ran sideline to sideline and crushed anyone in his path.
Bye weeks begin as the NFL enters its fourth week of the 2012 season. Here's a preview of all of this week's action:
As we head into week number four in the NFL, two teams are still looking for win number one. So, which winless team has the best chance at the Lombardi Trophy?
As you may have heard, hobos and miscreants are in charge of refereeing NFL games now! Or, rather, the NFL has decided to use high school referees as replacements while it negotiates with the actual referees' union, which has led to the occasional minor controversy. And while Monday's night's disastrous ending to the Packers-Seahawks game is probably the pinnacle (or nadir) of this sad saga, there were already plenty of questionable, puzzling and downright infuriating officiating decisions leading up to it.
Let's have a look, shall we?
By now, even non-football fans have heard about the officiating debacle in last night's showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks (just check your Facebook feed). Facing a 12-7 deficit with just seconds left to play, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson rolled out of the pocket and threw a desperation heave into the end zone, resulting in a game-clinching interception for the Packers.
Except it wasn't. Instead, the NFL's much-maligned replacement officials inexplicably ruled the play a touchdown for the Seahawks, ignoring an obvious offensive pass-interference penalty and cementing the phrase "simultaneous catch" into the lexicon of poor sports officiating.
This screw-up will, hopefully, lead to the return of the real refs—but let's not forget that they too have made their share of awful calls over the years. Here's a look at some of the NFL's most controversial officiating decisions:
Sure, high schoolers can be cruel sometimes. But every now and then, young people will rally around someone who's different and give them the support they need. Students at Linden High School in Michigan, for example, have appointed a senior with special needs as the school's football team manager.
As the labor dispute between the NFL and the referees’ union continues, criticism of the replacement officials has been going on for weeks and has only gotten louder after a blown call on 'Monday Night Football' gave Seattle a 14-12 win over Green Bay.
How bad have things gotten for the NFL?
Woah boy. Even if you could not give one fraction of an iota of a care about football, you probably still heard about the game last night (thanks, Facebook!). To deal, we just imagined old-timey Keystone Kops music playing underneath the whole thing. Thankfully other people dealt with the insanity by making funny memes. Here are some of the best.
As we approach the fourth week of the NFL, we only have three teams left at 3-0. So, which one is the best?
Russell Wilson threw a disputed 24-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate on the final play of the game, allowing the Seattle Seahawks to beat the Green Bay Packers, 14-12, in Seattle on Monday night.
Over the weekend, the New York Jets decided to use their much talked about backup quarterback Tim Tebow in a couple of offensive plays. One of the plays was an easy swing pass where Tebow could make the catch out in the flat and hopefully find some room to run. An immaculate reception it was not.
Another week in the NFL and another week of some very questionable calls. Everyone is frustrated by the replacement officials, but are some coaches going too far?
