NFL Replaced!

The thing replacement referees are replacing very effectively is all the on-field stories happening in the NFL. They are the singular story right now in all of sports, especially this Monday night when one of their calls decided and ended the game. Considering this game involved 2 good NFC teams, both looking to be playoff bound, that call could very well have a significant impact on this entire NFL season. With all that said, my summary of this issue is as follows. I am not completely on board with the theory that this call conclusively proves that the replacement refs are responsible for everything that ails our society from cancer to world hunger. The reason I say this is because everybody makes mistakes and this particular "simultaneous possession" call is not that easy where we can assume the regular refs would have nailed it. I can easily see the regulars missing this too. Plus, the replay review didn't help here either due to a variety of reasons. So beating up the replacement refs is not the point of this incident for me. Of course, there are several other calls over the last 3 weeks that are more worthy of beating these refs with than this particular one. But if the point is beating the NFL up at a philosophical level over this whole fiasco, then I am 100% on board.

The important point here is, the referees are a very significant part of this game and the league has woefully underestimated both their importance to the game and the difficulty of their jobs. Today, a call decided a game and possibly playoff positioning and this is what the NFL has been claiming and assuming will never happen. It can no more deny the fact that the referees are way too important and the league has to get it's act together and employ the best referees running their games. It's no different than having the best players playing in this league as opposed to some high-school kids. These replacement referees are trying their best and have the best of intentions, but they are put in a difficult situation. The game is fast, the pressure is unrelenting, and the scrutiny is intense for these referees. They are rookies with no experienced shoulders to lean on.The problem is not them, but it's the league that thinks these refs are more than enough to police these games. Even I thought the concerns over player's health because of these replacement referees were a little over-stated, but the calls they make do decide these games and it's no joke. After seeing how skirmishes are breaking out all over the field because the players think the refs are too scared to throw flags on them, I am coming around on the safety issue too.

In this day and age of twitter and 24 hours talk radio, there is so much negative focus on these guys and the issue is over-hyped. But the underlying message is simple and valid - NFL needs to fix this issue NOW. It is totally taking away from the action on the field, which is always great in the NFL, but has been especially entertaining in the early part of this season. Take for instance this Monday night game. The Seattle Seahawks defense was spectacular and they sacked Aaron Rodgers 8 times in the first half. The Packers offense definitely don't look the same and have some issues. But they showed us why they are still a great team when they came back in the second half and started moving the ball behind a new game-plan - no-huddle and running with Cedric Benson. They went ahead and would have won but for the bad call at the end, which may not have even been  the worst call of the game. There was a roughing the passer and pass interference call - both also against the Packers, that were also controversial. It was a good game culminating an awesome, but now controversial NFL weekend. The NFC West looks like the best division in all of football as Arizona is one of 3 teams in the entire NFL that are still 3-0. The Niners lost a bad one in Minnesota, but they are still good and between them, Arizona and Seattle, it should be a fun, tough, defensive struggle out west. Hopefully we will have real referees calling these games this fall.

Cutler sometimes plays like he deserves to be cut.

Week one of NFL is in the books and now that we have Thursday night football every week, we are already in to week 2. The bad part about Thursday night football is that I seem to be 25 points behind in my fantasy league even before Friday arrives. That used to happen in the second quarter of the first set of Sunday morning games. The only thing worse than losing in fantasy is losing it early on a Thursday. But that apart, Thursday night football is beautiful. Especially this week with Chicago and Green Bay renewing their divisional rivalry. Cutler kicked off the fun by wishing the Packers' secondary "good luck" for stopping his awesome passing game. I don't know if that fired up the Packers defense, but what we saw Thursday was a defensive unit that looked very different from the one Frank Gore and the Niners gashed last week. Clay Matthews and the secondary made Cutler and his offensive line look confused, clueless and mediocre. Cutler threw 4 interceptions and yelled, screamed and bumped J'Marcus Webb, the offensive lineman who was over-matched against Matthews.

While I do think the media is over-reacting to the bump, Cutler's general demeanor and attitude is very objectionable and sometimes his game is even more unacceptable. He has a cannon for an arm and plays like he is the Bears' savior from heaven on some days and then looks like one of those million-dollar arm, 10 cent brain QBs on other days. This Thursday was one of those 10 cent days for Cutler. Green Bay avoided a 0-2 hole and is now sitting much more comfortably than last week. Cutler on the other hand is again on an island with all kinds of question marks hanging over his head. He is over-rated and dumb. He has to fix his mental approach to the game if he ever hopes to maximize his immense physical talents. Green Bay proved they are a good team and their win this week makes the Niners win last week look even better. Of course, the Niners have to beat the Lions this week at home in the original bump-gate contest to cement their status. It's week to week in the NFL and the Thursday game proved that again. We don't know for sure if the Niners are that good or are the Packers got that much better in a week or are the Bears that bad. Time will tell.

Lots of scoring in week 1. That made the fantasy football owners feel good. The Niners, Ravens, Patriots, Texans, Cowboys, Falcons and the Broncos are some of the teams that looked good. The Falcons-Broncos game this Monday is going to be a great one. Speaking of the Broncos, it was good to see Peyton Manning play well and win. I still felt like his arm was not where it used to be, but his mental capacity is so good, he managed the game well and seems to have adjusted to whatever his new physical realities are. The other QB who caused a lot of excitement was RG3 who went into New Orleans and outplayed Drew Brees. Luck threw for 3 interceptions and lost the game in his debut, but I saw some good things from him too. I expect both these rookies to be great by the end of the season. Flacco and the Ravens showed us their no-huddle offense as advertised and it looked great against the Bengals. Great test for them in week 2 at Philly. If they can handle that secondary and that defense, they will join Niners as the other favorite and both teams will try to make Harbowl a reality. But the season is long and I am just happy that the fun has started.

My Fantasy

Fantasy football - the only male fantasy that we can openly talk about, is in full swing. So here's my top-5 for 2012-2013.

1. Ray Rice (RB, Baltimore Ravens): Stud running backs are scarce in this draft and they don't come any more reliable than Ray Rice. He is young, in his prime, and is on a really good team. While there is some concern about him losing motivation because of his recent long-term contract, I think he is too mature and smart to let that happen. On the field, he is a true workhorse. He is also a good receiver and should easily come close to his production last year - around 2000 yards and 15 TDs combined. He doesn't have a whole lot of competition for carries either. Ravens mostly serve rice with very few sides in that backfield.

2. Arian Foster (RB, Houston Texans): This guy did in 13 games last season (1841 combined yards and 12 TDs) what most top running backs struggled to do in 16. A prolific receiver and a scorer in addition to being a great runner,  Foster gives you everything. This vegan hurricane will be sweeping through Houston this fall as usual. Being in the AFC-"Rebuilding" division where the other 3 teams are starting a first or second year QB, Texans will have a successful season that bodes well for Foster. This division may be so easy that Foster will not be required to do a whole lot - especially since he has a capable backup in Ben Tate. This is the only reason he is ranked second and not first in this list.

2. LeSean McCoy (RB, Houston Texans): "Shady" McMcoy was one guy who played like a true dream teamer in that Eagles team last year. While I personally think it's sacrilege to compare him - or anybody else, to Barry Sanders, "Shady" is definitely the only one among today's RBs to come close to creating poetry in motion. He is explosive, shifty and is a TD threat every time he touches the ball. Sharing the backfield with Mike Vick should be a cause for concern when it comes to red-zone touches, but McCoy still scored 20 times last season and his rushing and receiving yardage total of more than 1600 yards wasn't too shabby either. With Vick being a year older and smarter, I would draft LeSean McCoy without any concern.

4. Aaron Rodgers (QB, Green Bay Packers): The NFL is more QB friendly today than it has ever been and this means the top-tier QBs are valued even more than in the past. And of course A-Rod is at the top of the heap. He has been top 2 in fantasy points per game in each of the 4 years he has started for the Packers. There is no indication that his production will come down this year and if the Packers' running game improves even a little bit, A-Rod should be even more lethal. A better division will also push him and you as his fantasy owner will benefit the most from it.

5. Drew Brees (QB, New Orleans Saints): The only thing better than Drew Brees might be an angrier, more motivated Drew Brees. He is angered by bounty-gate and the year-long suspension of his head coach and friend. And he is also motivated to live up to a new 100 million dollar contract that his own front office seemed to doubt if he deserved more than the rest of the world. It would be hard to match his 2011 numbers when he obliterated Dan Marino's record, but I would never put anything past this guy.  In Jimmy Graham,  the Superdome, and a loaded backfield, he has some amazing sidekicks and it's going to be another offensive juggernaut on display in the Big Easy.

Sleeper
Titus Young (WR, Detroit Lions): Two words - Madden Curse. The Detroit Lions have a lot of things going for them. A great offense, a stud QB, and Calvin Johnson. But Calvin Johnson is also on the cover of Madden 2013 and this means that he is probably going to have an underwhelming season. There is a reason why so many Green Bay Packers fans were voting for Calvin Johnson over their own Aaron Rodgers to be on the Madden cover earlier this year. You may call it superstition, I call it self preservation. Somebody still has to catch those rockets fired by Stafford. That will be Titus Young.