Week 16 - Patriots @ Jaguars...What?  A controversial fumble ruling goes the way of ths Patriots in a big game?  No Way! 

With under two minutes remaining and the Pats leading 24-21, Jacksonville QB David Garrard is hit while scrambling.  The ball rolled forward and was recovered by the Patriots.  The play was reviewed automatically by officials, who upheld the original call of fumble despite the fact that replay clearly shows Garrards arm was coming forward as he was hit.  According to the NFL rulebook "When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional movement forward of his hand starts a forward pass. If a Team B player contacts the passer or the ball after forward movement begins, and the ball leaves the passer's hand, a forward pass is ruled, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground or a player."  But once again, officials see something different than the rest of us.  I believe it's time for the NFL to consider scrapping the entire replay system.  The whole process is time consuming, haphazard, and inconsistent.  I'd have better odds playing craps in Vegas than expecting an official review to be ruled correctly. 

I Got Yer Challenge Right Here

Week 10 - Ravens @ Titans...When is a fumble not a fumble? When an NFL official gets involved. With Tennessee leading 26-17 in the 3rd quarter, Ravens RB Mike Anderson was stripped of the ball. A scrum ensued and defensive tackle Robaire Smith emerged with the football. Unfortunately for the Titans, the officials ruled down by contact.

Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher challenged the play and replay CLEARLY showed Anderson had lost the ball before going down. The officials now changed their ruling, admitted there was a fumble, but claimed because they couldn't tell for sure who recovered the fumble, Baltimore maintained posession. To add insult to injury, Tennessee was charged a timeout for an upheld replay ruling.

When's the last time you saw a fumble and the officials decided they couldn't tell who recovered so they just gave the ball back to the offense?

So basically, the Titans force a fumble, recover it and wind up without the ball and lose a timeout because incompetent officials blew the call not once, but twice on the same play. Typical...

Do-Over!

Week 9 - Vikings @ 49ers...Midway thru the 4th quarter and up 6-3, the 49ers lined up for a 51 yard field goal attempt. Kicker Joe Nedney nailed the field goal, but only after the 25 second play clock had expired. Officials threw the flag and it looked like San Francisco would have to punt. However, the Niners protested claiming that the 25 second play clock had reset at 2 seconds. After a few minutes head referee Ed Hochuli decided on a "do-over" and Nedney once again made the kick. In essence, the 49ers got out of a delay of game penalty.

Said Hochuli after the game "The kicker asked me to reset the clock and I said, 'No, we are not responsible for resetting the clock.' The back judge, who is responsible for the play clock, watched it. It got down to two seconds and then it went back up to 25 seconds. The back judge continued to count it the rest of the way down because he knew I had not reset the clock."

According to the NFL Rulebook (Rule 4, Section 1, Article 3) "The Line Judge shall be responsible for supervision of the timing and in case the stadium clock becomes inoperative, or for any reason is not being operated correctly, he shall take over the official timing on the field." Nowhere is there any mention of a do-over if the clock malfunctions.

Viking coach Brad Childress summed it up best..."Feels like home cooking to me."