NFL Quarterly Report: Weeks 1-4

Needless to say, the first four weeks of the NFL flew by. The endless wait for football is always met with a blinding rush of big plays, fascinating storylines and, of course, some controversy. Before you know it, we are now heading into week five. The first four games are so significant because we now have a feel for which teams are moving in which direction. We have been presented with just enough of a body of work to make valid points about this season, but there is still so much left of the mystery to unravel in upcoming weeks. For this reason, week five may be my favorite week outside of week one. Today, we are going to recap what we have seen so far and maybe make some points about the future as well.

The unfortunate highlight of this season so far has been the labor dispute between the NFL and their referees. Thankfully, this has been solved, but it did harm a good portion of the NFL season. My opinion on the notorious replacement refs is somewhat atypical because I have hated officials for years. To me, replacements were only going to continue to make the mistakes that the overrated Ed Hochuli and company have been making for years now. For this reason, I was not concerned when I learned that the NFL season would begin without the usual cast of officials. Part of me was right to not worry, but another side was dreadfully wrong. I have grown tired of hearing about the Packers-Seahawks Monday Night Football debacle. The call was clearly wrong and Green Bay got robbed. It was heartwarming to see fans and players turn on Roger Goodell, which I did long ago when he fined James Harrison more than America’s average household income in one season. That much was fun, but seeing these “real refs” serenaded from crowds everywhere upon their return last week was just pathetic and sickening.

After the return of our referees, the Giants almost stole a game from the Eagles after some rough defensive pass interference calls, and the same Green Bay Packers suffered a call that I insist was far worse than the call in Seattle. Darren Sproles fumbled a kickoff return and I swear the refs called him down by contact only because they could not determine who recovered the fumble, which was the Packers by the way. Every referee knows that a close call should always be called a turnover because fumbles and interceptions are automatically reviewed now. If Sproles was down and they called fumble, the Saints do not have to do anything and the play will be overturned. Instead, the Packers get ripped off again. The only reason this did not blow up was 1. The replacements were not there and 2. The game’s outcome was not ultimately changed because of it. We never hear the end of a bad call from a replacement, but when Gene Steratore makes that same call we hear about how hard refereeing is. My point is that the everyday referees make equally egregious errors. Where I was wrong to welcome replacement refs came in the form of procedural errors. Taking forever to spot the ball, mixing up teams or players and not understanding certain penalties are not mistakes you see from the pompous pinstripes that now grace fans with their presence. I may not love them, but at least they keep the game moving. If human error can go back to being our only officiating issue, we can all be at some degree of peace.

Now for the fun stuff from what has been an exciting start to this season. In my last articles, I methodically went on a division by division journey, but for this quarterly report summarizing the first four weeks I would rather jump around between a few standouts. The Jets have to be the worst 2-2 team in history. I cannot fully understand how their offense put such an epic beatdown on Buffalo and then fell off the face of the Earth. This team defines dysfunctional and the season ending injuries to Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes can only make things worse for them. On the other hand, they do sit atop the division at this very moment alongside one of the best 2-2 teams in history. The Patriots seem to be getting it together now as their dynamic offense creates turnover opportunities for their otherwise incapable defense. My Steelers will fade fast if they do not get healthy now, and Joe Flacco seems to still be riding the spoiled wave that his excellent team in Baltimore provides for him. My Chiefs prediction is looking just fantastic out west and Peyton’s Broncos seem to have some potential. I do not have enough faith in Denver to win it all, but they are a team that can upset one of the more legitimate contenders at some point. The juggernauts still lie in Baltimore and New England, but they do have their flaws. The Ravens, despite what they may tell you, lack an elite quarterback and the Patriots still do not play much defense. Speaking of flaws, I still cannot seem to find one in Houston. Is there one thing the Texans cannot do? They are efficient through the air, elite on the ground, and play excellent defense. I feel that more elite competition will bring them down to Earth, but until then let us enjoy the most dominant team in football right now.

The NFC is even more interesting to me. You have a completely revamped edition of what was the worst division in NFL history in the NFC West. It is as if the 49ers went around in the offseason teaching everyone how to play defense. The Seahawks bottled up MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Cardinals had Mike Vick drawn and quartered. All of a sudden, every single NFC division has multiple playoff contenders, which is just frightening. Teams like the Saints or Lions must be furious to basically be told by mediocre teams that their playoff chances are dead. With the aforementioned NFC West and teams like the Vikings piling up wins, you simply cannot afford a slow start. Even teams like the Giants or Cowboys at 2-2 are walking a very thin line now. I still believe that Big Blue will figure it out and that the Boys are not going anywhere, but there are many more variables than we expected from the superior conference. The Falcons are the NFC’s Texans and seem to have no flaws whatsoever. It will take a team that is simply better to beat them because they will not beat themselves. The Packers and 49ers are the NFC’s Patriots and Ravens, respectively. For this reason, I have not been sold on either Atlanta or Houston making a championship run. They may be the most complete teams, but you have to be the best in at least one major area to win it all. The Saints are a stunning 0-4, but I still believe they will finish second to the Falcons. The Panthers and Buccaneers both look terrible and, while it may no longer equate to a playoff appearance, look for the Saints to make enough of a surge to take second place in the NFC South. It seems the loss of Sean Payton for the season will be a crushing one, but I always love to see what teams do in the face of such adversity.

In contrast to the overblown replacement referees, there was one tragedy from the regular season’s first quarter that did not get nearly enough attention. Steve Sabol, the legendary president and founder of NFL Films, passed away after a battle with brain cancer dating back to March of 2011. What continues to amaze me is how someone could impact my life so much when, I confess, I did not actually know his name until the news of his death. While I am now among the world’s elite in the department of love for the NFL product, I was a late bloomer in terms of football fanaticism. My first NFL season ended with the electrifying shootout between the Patriots and Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII (38). Most fans my age remember Kevin Dyson stretching for the biggest Super Bowl upset that never was as the Rams took down the Titans at the turn of the millennium. For this reason, my love for football came largely from NFL films in a roughly one month viewing of NFL history. I, along with any fan since Sabol’s creation, had the privilege of witnessing the greatest presentation of any material in professional sports. NFL films elevated the sport above all others and, in my opinion, were what solidified football’s spot atop the sports world in America. My understanding of and love for the game may have been enriched through my years of watching live games, but the foundation was built from this revolutionary method of NFL transparency. While we may be without Steve Sabol, his legacy will live on for generations as the NFL films machine lives on. The NFL reigns supreme in the world of entertainment, and they have him to thank for it.