Real Officials Make Return on Thursday Night Football; NFLRA Officially Approves New Labor Deal

Earlier this morning the NFLRA met and voted on the new labor deal which passed just prior to Thursday night's game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens.

Fortunately, the deal was agreed upon on Wednesday night and allowed the regular officials to return to action Thursday night before the NFLRA even finalized the deal by voting on it. The vote on the new eight-year labor deal was made and approved by the officials this morning. Which means the end to the lockout was finally made official.

Week 4 got underway in rainy Baltimore two nights ago, as the now 3-1 Baltimore Ravens knocked off the feisty, yet winless, Cleveland Browns.

It was Cleveland's defense, led by linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, that kept the Browns in the game all the way through. Sacking quarterback Joe Flacco four times and picking him off once more, in addition to holding Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice to just 49 yards on 18 carries, allowed Cleveland to limit Baltimore's offense to just 23 points.

Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden and his offense were forced to settle for three field goals and had two turnovers, therefore preventing any further damage than the team's 16 points. Weeden did look pretty solid on the team's final drive of the game.

Though the team failed to knot the game up at 23 in the end, Weeden drove the team 72 yards down the field on 10 plays. It took just over a minute and was helped out by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Baltimore's Paul Kruger, but Weeden showed poise and patience in the pocket. His desperation pass to Greg Little fell to the ground as time expired, but I think Weeden managed to walk off the field with a bit more self-confidence after keeping it close against a defense of Baltimore's caliber.

But no matter what happened in the Cleveland/Baltimore showdown, we all knew that the return of the officials was going to steal the show on Thursday. And that they did.

In fact, they were basically given a standing ovation as they took the field prior to the start of the game. The National Football League is back, and it's integrity appears to have been restored after zero controversial calls were made. It's a great feeling heading in to Sunday's slate of games, isn't it?

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The Wrath of the Coaches

left-New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick grabs a replacement ref's arm at the end of his hotly contested game with the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 23, 2012. right-Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan voices his displeasure with an official in their Sept 16 game against the St Louis Rams.

After Week 3 of the NFL regular season, one thing is clear: the games are bordering on chaos under the officiating of replacement officials. The expected improvement as the weeks progressed has not happened. Instead, every week games are being poorly officiated with bad calls, missed calls, wrong penalty assessments and an overall failure to control the game. As expected, coaches have reacted, and not in a good way. Replacement officials have transformed many of those normally cool and stone-faced coaches on the sideline into red-faced, raving hotheads. Some of the more notable blow-ups include:

Bill Belichick - The Week 3 game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Sept 23, came down to a field goal. As time expired and with the score 30-28 Patriots, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker launched a 27-yard field goal that many thought missed wide right. But the ref signalled that it was good and the Ravens won 31-30. As the chaotic exit of players, officials and sideline personnel began, coach Belichick chased after a ref who was running off the field. As Belichick explained, he had questions regarding the last play and he was trying to get the ref's attention when he grabbed his arm. Today, Belichick was fined $50,000 for 'impermissable physical contact.'

Kyle Shanahan - In another Week 3 Sunday game, the Cincinnati Bengals led the Washington Redskins 38-31 with 7 seconds left in the game. With the Redskins on the Bengals 34-yard line, quarterback Robert Griffin III spiked the ball to stop the clock. On the same play, the refs flagged tight end Fred Davis for a false start. But here's where the fireworks began. After one official said that there would be a 10-second runoff because of the false start penalty, Cincinnati's coaches and players, thinking the game was over, began walking on the field. Since that is not the correct penalty, (should be 5-yards) Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan demanded a clarification from the refs and insisted that the game was not over. For this, Shanahan was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Then the refs backed the ball up 20 yards (instead of 15) for that penalty. On the next play and  now at third-and 50, Griffin hurled the ball downfield for an incomplete pass. Time expired - Game over. Still upset over the rulings, Shanahan pursued the officials into the tunnel and apparently hurled a litany of profanities at them. Shanahan was fined $25,000 by the league on Tuesday, Sept 25.

John Harbaugh - At one point in the same game as Bill Belichick's transgression, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh admitted that he bumped an official. His explanation was that he merely wanted to call a timeout and the officials did not hear or see him. The league has said they are investigating the incident.

John Fox and Jack Del Rio - After the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons game on Monday Night Football, Sept 17, both head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio were recently fined $30,000 and $25,000 respectively. The game was constantly interrupted by long delays and reviews, and reviews of the reviews. Throughout the game, both Fox and Del Rio could be seen berating, intimidating and badgering the officials. According to ESPN analyst Adam Shefter, the NFL even called the Georgia Dome at halftime to get the message to Fox and Del Rio to tone down their behavior.

The past three weeks have seen numerous clashes between coaches and replacement officials. Even with fines and memos mandating better behavior from coaches, we can expect to see more dramatics as long as the replacements are officiating.

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NFL Statement Regarding the Controversial End of Monday Night's Game

It's all over the news, and not just ESPN and NFL Network. The National Football League and its replacement officials have hit rock bottom after the to last night's Packers vs. Seahawks primetime game.

Trailing 12-7, Seattle's rookie quarterback Russell Wilson threw up a desperation hail mary as time expired, which appeared to be intercepted by Green Bay's safety M.D. Jennings. The back judge ran over and signaled timeout, which would mean he's signaling a GB interception and touchback. However, the side judge signaled for a touchdown.

There was no conference between officials and it was ruled a Seattle touchdown, though there was no official call coming from the referee himself. After the call, Green Bay ran off the field in disgust after seeing the replay reveal that Jennings did, in fact, have the ball cradled against his body while Seattle's Golden Tate merely had two hands barely on the football.

The play was reviewed but referee Wayne Elliot apparently didn't find that anything was indisputable and the play stood as called. It took about 10 minutes for the Packers to get 11 guys back out of the locker room and onto the field to attempt the extra point.

If you were to ask my opinion on the ending, I must say that this was the most embarrassing ending to any NFL game I have ever seen. It felt as though you were watching a high school game. And the backlashing from Packer players, and other NFL players in general, on Twitter was severe last night.

As expected, Aaron Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy weren't too happy during their post-game press conferences. But I must give credit to Greg Jennings and a couple of other Packer players who were very classy following the defeat and didn't blame officials for the loss. That had to have been very tough after watching that unfold from the sidelines.

Here's the official statement the League came out with today, as they stated that the Seattle win will not be overturned after investigating further (they did admit that the officials missed a PI call on Tate that would have ended the game though):

In Monday's game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, Seattle faced a 4th-and-10 from the Green Bay 24 with eight seconds remaining in the game. 

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a pass into the end zone. Several players, including Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings, jumped into the air in an attempt to catch the ball. 

While the ball is in the air, Tate can be seen shoving Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to the ground. This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game. It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay. 

When the players hit the ground in the end zone, the officials determined that both Tate and Jennings had possession of the ball. Under the rule for simultaneous catch, the ball belongs to Tate, the offensive player. The result of the play was a touchdown. 

Replay Official Howard Slavin stopped the game for an instant replay review. The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable. That is not the case in the field of play, only in the end zone. 

Referee Wayne Elliott determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review. 

The result of the game is final. 

Applicable rules to the play are as follows: 

A player (or players) jumping in the air has not legally gained possession of the ball until he satisfies the elements of a catch listed here. 

Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3 of the NFL Rule Book defines a catch: 
A forward pass is complete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) if a player, who is inbounds: 

(a) secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and 

(b) touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and 

(c) maintains control of the ball long enough, after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, to enable him to perform any act common to the game (i.e., maintaining control long enough to pitch it, pass it, advance with it, or avoid or ward off an opponent, etc.). 

When a player (or players) is going to the ground in the attempt to catch a pass, Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 1 states: 

Player Going to the Ground. If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete. 

Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 5 states: 

Simultaneous Catch. If a pass is caught simultaneously by two eligible opponents, and both players retain it, the ball belongs to the passers. It is not a simultaneous catch if a player gains control first and an opponent subsequently gains joint control. If the ball is muffed after simultaneous touching by two such players, all the players of the passing team become eligible to catch the loose ball.

So the Seattle (2-1) victory will stand and the Packers will remain 1-2. The internet, mostly social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, have taken the replacement officials' mistakes pretty hard. Here are a couple of things I have come across so far:

 And post-game press conferences following last night's game:

Players have been all over Twitter with this one. Do you think commish Goodell will realize how bad it has gotten and do everything he can to get the real guys back out there? Personally I don't think we're even close to the end, which is really scary. You know it's bad when bandwagon and fair weather fans even realize it's getting ugly out there.

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Week 3 in Perspective: Plenty of Sunday Action Despite Threats to Replacement Officials

The replacement officials have continued to struggle to maintain a reasonable game pace and avoid making critical mistakes. Yesterday's slate of games may have surpassed Week 2 in terms of butchered or missed calls.

Despite being warned by the National Football League prior to Sunday about harassing or "bullying" the officials, players and coaches all over have repeatedly made verbal threats. And in Bill Belichick's case following Sunday night's 31-30 loss to Baltimore, even made contact with one official.

Numerous calls involving player safety were missed, costing Matt Schaub a piece of his ear and sending Darrius Heyward-Bey to the hospital. Jim Harbaugh's 49ers were awarded extra challenges while Mike Shanahan's Redskins were unfairly penalized an extra five yards.

If this isn't enough proof that the regular NFL officials are well-qualified for the job and have done a spectacular job over the years, then I don't know what more to say. It takes a certain set of skills to officiate an NFL game and, clearly, you cannot just replace these guys with officials from the CFL, AFL and Lingerie Football League.

I understand the officials want more money, which the league does not agree with. But at this point, I don't think it matters how much you pay these guys, just get them back on the field as soon as possible. Unfortunately for coaches, players and fans, the league has shown that they are not in any hurry to get them back out there. Commissioner Roger Goodell knows that people will still be watching, but if the issue isn't fixed in the next couple of weeks he could start to see viewership drop. And drop fast.

Rant over.

Besides the blown calls and illegal hits from yesterday, there really was some good football played around the league. I believe that Week 3's action surpassed the previous two weeks of play, by far. Some players have continued to stay cold and disappoint while others have broken out from a slow start and turned heads.

Three Early Games Decided in Overtime

Three 1:00 p.m. (eastern time) games were not decided until the fifth quarter of play, in a (partial) sudden death format. The Kansas City Chiefs captured its first win of the season by upsetting the now 0-3 New Orleans Saints in OT, led by the speedy Jamaal Charles and his 233 rushing yards. Charles missed basically all of last season after injuring his ACL in a Week 2 match-up with Detroit. Charles showed he's back to full health by carrying a full load of 33 rushing attempts and adding a 91-yard rushing TD in the third quarter. The game was won by the foot of Ryan Succop, hitting a game-winning field goal from 31 yards late in OT. Chiefs win 27-24.

The Lions and Titans combined for 85 points and just over 1,000 total yards in their match-up in Tennessee. Despite running for just 59 yards as a team, the Titans' pulled out its first victory of the season by a score of 44-41 after Rob Bironas kicked the game-winner from 26 yards out in overtime. Sophomore quarterback Jake Locker, making his third career start as Tennessee's QB, had a career day throwing for 378 yards and 2 TDs with no picks. For Detroit, Matthew Stafford sustained an injury and was forced to leave the game. What did backup Shaun Hill, hailing from the University of Maryland, do in his place? Oh, he only completed 10 of his 13 passes for 172 yards and 2 TD passes with :18 to play in regulation. It's a shame Detroit lost after Hill's effort.

One of the most poorly played games of the day was a New York Jets/Miami Dolphins match-up in South Florida. The two teams combined for four turnovers and 20 penalties and Miami's Dan Carpenter missed two field goals, one being the potential game-winner in overtime. The game ended with Nick Folk kicking it in from 33 yards out with just over six minutes to play in the extra quarter. First-year Miami head coach Joe Philbin, however, shot himself in the toe by trying to ice Folk. Folk had his first attempt blocked by Miami, but Philbin had called the timeout before the ball was snapped, therefore giving Folk a second try. When you're given a second try, you can't miss. And Folk didn't, giving New York its second win of the season and dropping Miami to 1-2.

Dalton, Bengals knock off RGIII's Skins

Yes, I know, there was controversy towards the end of Cincinnati's 38-31 victory over Robert Griffin III and the 1-2 Skins, like I stated above. But that doesn't take away from one of the best games of Dalton's young career. His 328 yards and 3 passing touchdowns marks just the third time he's accomplished a 300-yard game in his 20 starts (regular and postseason). It was also the first time he's had back-to-back 300+ yard, 3 TD games. He was near flawless in a match-up with the Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan-less Skins defense. His favorite target, sophomore wideout A.J. Green had a big day as well (9 rec., 183 yards, 1 TD), sending a message to the other wideouts in the league. Green is here to stay. And apparently so is Dalton.

Bears' Defense Assists Cutler in 23-6 Victory

Sure, it would appear as though Jay Cutler redeemed himself after a relatively embarrassing performance against Green Bay last week. The reason for Chicago's victory, improving to 2-1 in the process, is pretty much because of a defense that forced two Sam Bradford interceptions and limited St. Louis' offense to 160 total yards and zero red zone trips. Bradford was unable to get anything going all game long against this Chicago defense, and Cutler's stat-line of 17/31, 183 yards, 1 INT isn't going to win over any of his fantasy owners. But it was enough to get the job done. That's all we can ask, right? No 7-sack game this week.

Spiller Goes Down, Choice Steps up in Buffalo Victory

C.J. Spiller had won over fantasy owners in the first two weeks of the season, filling the void for the injured Fred Jackson who was said to miss at least the first month of play this season. Well, another injury to a Buffalo running back occurred in yesterday's game with the Browns, as Spiller left the game with a left shoulder injury. At the time of the injury he only had four carries for 16 yards. Luckily another running back stepped right in as Tashard Choice ran for 91 yards on his 20 carries to help Ryan Fitzpatrick to a 24-14 victory over the Browns. Buffalo is now 2-1, but injuries continue to cloud up the backfield situation heading into next week's game with New England.

Romo Prevails vs. Bucs Despite Lack of Offensive Production

Tony Romo's Dallas Cowboys improved to 2-1, tying the Giants and Eagles for the NFC East lead, defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16-10. But it wasn't pretty, on both sides of the field. Josh Freeman was limited 110 passing yards (10/28, 1 TD, 1 INT) and had a run game that managed just 3.0 yards per carry. Romo led Dallas on just one touchdown drive, capped by a DeMarco Murray 11-yard TD run in the first quarter. Other than that, both teams combined for five turnovers and six sacks. It didn't really appear to be spectacular defense, just poorly executed offensive drives. Both teams also finished for a combined 2-for-7 in the red zone. Neither lit up the scoreboard, or stat sheet in this match-up. Not sure which Cowboys team to expect this season, to tell you the truth.

Jones-Drew Leads Jags to First Victory

Ah, yes. Here's what we've all been waiting for. A big game from Maurice Jones-Drew. MJD held out of camp and preseason and clearly wasn't fully prepared for the first few weeks of the regular season, combining for 137 yards and 0 TDs in his first two games. But yesterday he broke out for 177 yards and a touchdown in Jacksonville's 22-17 victory over Andrew Luck's Colts. Luck was decent, throwing for 313 yards and a pair of TDs, but Blaine Gabbert's 80-yard bomb to Cecil Shorts with less than a minute to play gave Jacksonville the victory.

Vikings, led by Ponder, Stun 49ers

More controversy towards the end of this game was the main things that caught everyone's attention, but luckily Minnesota prevailed in the end despite coach Jim Harbaugh's two extra challenges that were basically conned from the referee. Sophomore quarterback Christian Ponder, much like fellow second year-men Locker and Dalton, looked very impressive throughout. Out-passing counterpart Alex Smith, Ponder got the job done with both his arm (2 TD passes to TE Kyle Rudolph) and his legs (23-yard TD run in 2nd qtr). Minnesota's defense stepped up as well, sacking Smith three times and forcing three more turnovers in the 24-13 victory. The controversy made no difference in the outcome of the game, luckily.

Big Ben Plays Near-Perfect Football, Stunned by Last-Second Janikowski GWer

Ben Roethlisberger had a career day in a 34-31 loss to the Oakland Raiders. Due to a lack of a running game (54 yards on 20 carries, 0 TD), Roethlisberger was forced to pass the ball 49 times, which is tied for the third-most of his nine-year career. Ben completed 36 of those passes for 384 yards and 4 TDs, with no interceptions. Oakland's Darren McFadden, finishing with 113 yards and a TD, ran for a 64-yard touchdown early in the game to knot the score at 7 apiece. But Oakland had never led until they tied the game at 34 following an Antonio Brown fumble and then hit the 43-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. Sebastian Janikowski used his leg to score the final six points of the game as the Raiders completed the comeback.

Cardinals, Kolb Improve to 3-0 by Shutting Down Vick's Eagles

The Eagles didn't have a shot from the very beginning of the game. Head coach Andy Reid even admitted he did a terrible job at preparing his team for the game. Arizona, one of the league's only undefeated teams left, sacked Vick five times throughout the four quarters and LeSean McCoy only touched the ball 16 times (13 rushes, 3 catches). Vick's two fumbles proved costly, one of which was returned 93 yards for an Arizona touchdown with six seconds to play in the first half. Kevin Kolb, of all guys, outplayed his former teammate Michael Vick as Kolb and wideout Larry Fitzgerald torched Philly's secondary all game. I almost want to say that Philadelphia is lucky the final score was only 27-6.

Atlanta Stays Winless After 27-3 Victory

San Diego was at home, and had running back Ryan Mathews (broke collarbone in preseason) back in the lineup, yet Matt Ryan's 3-0 Falcons were far too much for Philip Rivers and the Charger offense. Ryan threw for three more TDs, giving him a league-leading 8 for the season, spreading the ball out to eight different receivers in Atlanta's high-powered first half. Atlanta, in addition to Arizona and Houston, is one of three teams left that have yet to lose this season. With the way this passing offense has been playing, I think they could end up being the last to lose a game, too.

Peyton, Broncos Fall just Short of Comeback for Second Straight game

Peyton Manning's Broncos got off to another slow start against the 3-0 Texans, down 21-5 at one point during the second quarter. But two 4th quarter passing TDs to Brandon Stokley and Joel Dressen put Denver back in the game late, though the comeback attempt eventually failed. Peyton is not looking his regular form as a lot of his passes appear to be dead ducks, or just very loose spirals. It's disappointing not seeing his normal tight spirals thrown into very small windows, but we all know it'll take him some time to get back to full health. He'll be just fine.

Ravens Win Rematch in Controversy-filled SNF match-up

There's no doubt there were a lot of questionable calls, and a couple of critical no-calls as well in this game. In total, 24 penalties were called, adding up to 218 penalty yards (135 of them went against Baltimore). It was a long, yet still entertaining, game that featured two 300-yard passers in Tom Brady and Joe Flacco. Less than 24 hours after his younger brother was killed in a motorcycle accident, Baltimore receiver Torrey Smith had a career game with six catches for 127 yards and 2 TDs. A very inspiring performance indeed, and it was capped off when Baltimore placekicker Justin Tucker hit a walk-off 27-yard field goal as time expired, to give Baltimore a 31-30 redemption victory. Once again, there was some question as to whether or not the FG was good, but it appeared to sail just over top of the right upright, meaning it was, in fact, three points and a win for the 2-1 Ravens.

Key Injuries:

Matthew Stafford, Detroit QB--hamstring. Status uncertain.

C.J. Spiller, Buffalo RB--shoulder. Will have MRI, likely to miss Week 4.

Reggie Bush, Miami RB--knee. MRI revealed no structural damage

Austin Collie, Indianapolis WR--ruptured patella tendon. Out for season.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, Oakland WR--concussion and neck strain. Released from hospital on Monday.

Adrian Clayborn, Tampa Bay DE--torn knee ligament. Out for rest of season.

Darrelle Revis, New York Jets CB--torn ACL, out for season

Monday Night Preview:

Packers at Seahawks

Seattle's rookie signal caller Russell Wilson is coming off his most impressive performance last week, a 27-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. With Marshawn Lynch taking the pressure off Wilson with his 122 yards and 1 TD, Seattle's offense scored 17 unanswered points to put the game out of the hands of the Cowboys.

In tonight's match-up, however, Seattle will need to give Lynch at least 30 carries. Against a team of Green Bay's caliber, Pete Carroll will need to establish the run early and keep with it. This will be Wilson's toughest match-up yet and will need to be comfortable. Normally I would say you'd need to attack, but in Seattle's case a conservative game plan is their best bet to beat the Packers.

After missing last week's game with a groin injury, Greg Jennings told ESPN's Lisa Salters that he will be playing tonight and he has been listed as active by the team.

My Prediction: Packers 35, Seahawks 14

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Week 2: Replacement Officials Aren't the Only Ones Riding the Struggle Bus

Week 2 of the NFL season has been wrapped up and, to be honest, the National Football League is having the worst start to a season in the past decade or so.

With the continuation of the NFL officials' holdout, the replacement officials suited up for another week of action, much to the dismay of fans and experts everywhere. Due to the limited amount of NFL-level training that these officials have received, these guys are doing everything they possibly can to provide the NFL their services.

Unfortunately, these services are not going over well if players, coaches and fans. If I were to take a ballpark estimation, I would likely say there's been between three or four blown calls a game this past weekend. Week 1 seemed to go smoothly considering the circumstances the replacement officials are in, but this week it's gotten a bit out of hand.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has seemed to focus more on the Saints' bounty scandal (met with Jonathan Vilma yesterday and Will Smith and Anthony Hargrove earlier today) rather than focusing on reaching a new deal with the real officials.

It's sad, if you ask me. The actual officials make probably around $8,000 a week and are looking for a raise, but Goodell and the NFL don't seem to wanna work out a deal that gives them a couple thousand more bucks.

With the league making billions, and Goodell making millions, I'm pretty sure they can afford to raise the pay. In fact, Goodell himself could pay them straight from his pocket and still be making millions each year.

The fans clearly are not happy one bit with this situation and, if Goodell knows what's good for the league and himself, he would be doing everything in his power to get the real guys back out there. A couple more weeks of this, and fans may actually start boycotting games. What does that mean? Less money for the league.

I hate to break it to Mr. Goodell, but he's doing this to himself.

Anyway, I think it's time to get off that subject and start digging in to this past weekend's games. It's not just the officials that are having a hard time, quite a few teams and players struggled this past weekend. Instead of focusing on the good (which is what I usually do), I'm going to take this time to highlight the negative things that have taken place. It sounds terrible, I know. But it's gotta be done at some point.

Cutler's 4 INTs, 7 sacks vs. Packers

Not only was Jay Cutler the first quarterback to be sacked seven times and throw four interceptions in Week 2 against the Packers for the first time since 2002, but he also made a vital mistake while on camera: he shoved his teammate LT J'Marcus Webb. Earlier today Cutler admitted that he regrets doing so while also saying he wished to have seen more fire from him.

Looking back at the film and highlights, it certainly wasn't any one specific who is to blame for the struggles. As a team, the offense failed to move the ball and Cutler held on to the ball a little longer than he should have on a couple of occasions. If this offense is going to win some games this season, they will need to communicate and play together. Thursday night's 23-10 loss was a little embarrassing and probably shouldn't have even been that close of a game in the end.

Patriots miss last-second field goal, fall to Arizona

Arizona's defense owned Brady in this one, that's all there is really to say. Sure, he threw for 300 yards on the day but he also struggled in the red zone (1/3) was sacked by Arizona's defense four times. New England was forced to settle for five field goal attempts but only managed four of them as Stephen Gostkowski failed to convert a 42-yarder with a minute to play. The frustrating part for New England is the fact that Danny Woodhead had scored on a 30-yard touchdown five plays prior but Rob Gronkowski was called for holding, nullifying the potential game-winning touchdown.

The missed field goal allowed the Cardinals to improve to 2-0 in its first game with Kevin Kolb (15/27, 140 yards, 1 TD) as the team's starter in 2012.

Despite 2-0 record, Philly's turnover woes continue

For the second consecutive week, the Philadelphia Eagles pulled away with a one-point victory as a result of a late scoring drive. Quarterback Michael Vick came off a four interception Week 1 game against the Browns by throwing for two more against the Baltimore defense. In total, the Eagle offense has committed nine turnovers in two games. Vick threw nearly 60 passes in the first game but, luckily for the Eagles, head coach Andy Reid gave running back LeSean McCoy more touches this past weekend and the Eagles defense bailed out Vick late in the game.

In both games, Philly controlled the game clock by nearly 10 minutes and saw a lot of time on the field. The 25 carries for McCoy against Baltimore may be the reason, and if they would like to continue to win the close games it's all up to the run game.

Saints fall to 0-2

First, they were victimized by Robert Griffin III in his first career start, allowing him and his Washington offense to put up 40 points and out-dueling Drew Brees. Second, division rival Carolina ran all over them with 219 yards and 3 TDs on 41 carries en route to a 35-27 victory. It appears as though the absence of head coach Sean Payton is having a larger effect on the team than we anticipated.

Drew Brees has struggled as well, much to the dismay of interim coach Aaron Kromer. In two games, Brees has completed just over half of his passes for 4 TDs and 4 interceptions. Hopefully having the Kansas City Chiefs enter the Superdome this Sunday will help ease the pain.

Josh Morgan's actions cost Skins the game

Washington Redskins wide receiver Josh Morgan made the biggest bone-head play of the season...and it's only Week 2. On a potential game-tying or game-winning drive, Morgan made a seven-yard catch on 3rd & 8 and, after being tackled, was subtly shoved by Rams' cornerback Cortland Finnegan. Now, we all know Finnegan is known for being a dirty player and doing things such as this. Morgan even knew and acknowledged this earlier last week. Yet Morgan let him get in his head anyways, as he threw the ball at Finnegan and cost the Skins a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Of course the Skins ended up out of field goal range and failing to convert on fourth down, thus ending the game and giving the Rams a 31-28 victory. What an awful way to lose a ballgame and I don't think head coach Mike Shanahan and Morgan's fellow teammates will let him live this one down any time soon.

Tennessee's run game struggles

Three seasons removed from his historic 2,000 yard season and Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson is having the worst start to a season in his five year career. Through its first two games, Tennessee is 0-2 and the offense has totaled just 58 yards on 26 carries against New England and San Diego, which comes out to an average of 2.2 yards per carry. Over these two games, the team has also scored just 23 points and no TDs on the ground.

If that's not something that makes you shake your head in shame, then I don't know what does. To make matters worse, Chris Johnson was the first running back I selected in my league's fantasy draft this season. Ouch.

Manning throws 3 INT in opening quarter, falls 27-21

Watching last Sunday night's prime time matchup that featured Peyton Manning's return made me think he would be able to just step right in and dominate the opposition like the old days, despite him saying he still wasn't at 100%. Well, clearly he (Peyton) was right when he said it's going to take a lot of work to return to full form. In his first eight pass attempts last night he had three interceptions, which were all pretty much due to him overthrowing his intended target.

I must admit, Denver's MNF loss to Atlanta, 27-21, was one of the worst games I've seen from Manning in quite a while, and he even almost ended up coming out on top in the end. Many of his passes were as ugly and wobbly as Cutler's on Thursday. It appeared as though he had quite a few dead ducks in his arsenal.

Gabbert throws for 53 yards in 27-7 loss to HOU

Remember how Blaine Gabbert was supposed to break out and establish himself as a passer in Jacksonville this season? Well, people have already forgotten all of that talk and we are just two weeks in. He managed just 53 yards on 7/19 passing against Houston's stingy defense on Sunday. His average per pass was a lowly 2.8 yards. Even against Houston's tough defense, there is no reason any quarterback in this league should be putting up numbers like that.

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Ok, well, now that I've give you nightmares by highlighting the bad from this weekend, I guess I'll take a few paragraphs to highlight some good things as well...

*C.J. Spiller continues to shine for Buffalo, filling in for the injured Fred Jackson. In the Bills' 35-17 victory over Kansas City, Spiller ran for 123 yards and 2 TDs. More good news in Buffalo, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is the only starting QB left that has yet to be sacked through the first two games.

*Rookie Andrew Luck threw for 224 yards and 2 TDs and captured his first victory in the NFL as his Colts improved to 1-1 thanks to a 23-20 victory over Minnesota. Kicker Adam Vinatieri kicked a game-winning 53-yard field goal with :08 to play.

*Reggie Bush has shown he can be a No. 1 back with his 172 yards and 2 TDs against Oakland. Rookie Ryan Tannehill's 200 yards and one TD led the way for Miami as the Phins defeated the Raiders 35-13.

*Can't go without highlighting Eli Manning's 510 passing yards, tied for 8th-most in a single game. Ever. Not only that, but Eli led his G-Men to a come-from-behind 41-34 victory over Tampa Bay. Remember all that fourth quarter success he had last season? Well he threw for 2 TDs and nearly 250 yards in the fourth on Sunday. Outrageous.

*Russell Wilson looked pretty solid against Dallas' defense, putting up 27 points with the help of 122 yards rushing and a TD from Marshawn Lynch. Wilson attempted just 20 passes, completing 15 of them, as Pete Carroll took pressure off Wilson by running the ball 41 times for 182 yards and a TD. It appears as though that was the perfect combination for rookie Wilson.

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