Week 2 ATS Recap: The Replacements

Sure, I guess you'd expect a post of this title to be a rant against the current "replacement" referees employed by the NFL. Oh, but you'd be so wrong. Yeah, the games are taking longer, they're slowing to a snails pace at times, and the refs lose control of the players once in a while.

So what's different? Having watched two weeks of games so far, I actually kinda like these "replacements." It's been two whole weeks, and not once have I heard the phrase "point of emphasis." That term usually is tied to some rule that the NFL wants the previous refs to watch closely, and for the first month of the season we are treated to flags flying every time it's even in question if the "point of emphasis" occured. This season? Nope.

The fans, driven by the media, are quickly turning on these new refs. To hear Mike Tirico last night during the Broncos-Falcons game, they should be. We had apparently reached the low point of the season in bad officiating, even though the majority of the calls were correct OR corrected, and other than the pace of the game, the refs did not factor in the outcome. Funny thing, that "pace" of the game. It's ironic that the announcers, employed by networks that treat us to a plethora of commercials during every timeout, during injuries, during reviews, after kickoffs and punts, that these same announcers would talk about the refs affecting the pace of the game. That's beyond silly. So I'm going to take it easy on the new guys, it's not like what they replaced was much better.

• Packers (-5½) 23, Bears 10 - Both losers - The Packers played the Niners, arguably the best team in the NFC, and lost in Week 1. The Bears blew out the Colts. So, of course, we went all Denny Green on the Bears and "crowned their ass." The Pack had other ideas, and it wasn't Aaron Rodgers leading the way, it was the Packer defense. Maybe they heard all their negative press, but guys who made big plays during the 2010 Super Bowl run and came up small in 2011, suddenly were making plays again. Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson, and "X-Factor" himself, Tramon Williams, all shut down the Bears.
• Giants (-7) 41, Bucs 34 - PUSH - The Giants were staring 0-2 in the face and Tampa was looking to be a surprising 2-0, but the sleeping Giants awoke and Eli Manning decided to do what he does best: play flawless 4th quarter quarterback. The G-Men went nuts in the 4th and shellshocked Tampa could do nothing but watch. I did enjoy watching the Bucs blow up the kneel down at the end of the game. I was unaware that there was some unwritten rule that you can't do that. Unwritten rules? What is this, baseball? If they had blown up Eli and he fumbled and Tampa did something with it, we'd be seeing a whole new trend in the league.
• Panthers (+2½) 35, Saints 27 - Both winners - The Saints are scoring 30 a game, so don't tell me that Drew Brees is lost without Payton. The story here is that the Saint D is giving up almost 40 a game so far, to Washington and Carolina, which aren't exactly offensive juggernauts. Carolina saw what a college QB could do to the Saints after RG3 put on a clinic in week 1, and guess who was RG3 before RG3 came into the league? Cam Newton, that's who, and he put on a show of his own. Fortunately for the Saints, their next opponent has Matt Cassell under center. If he lights up the Saints, this could get real ugly.
• Cardinals (+13½) 20, Patriots 18 - Dre winner, Jason loser - This was so typical, even once the Cards got up 20-9, you just knew the Pats would come back and win. Arizona even graciously fumbled while trying to run out the clock, gifting the game to Brady and Belichick. Even as Stephen Gostkowski's kick sailed way off target, I just knew the Pats would win, even after they'd lost. Maybe Roger Goodell will overturn the outcome, just so things can go back to normal. Arizona can't WIN at New England. Just....just no.
• Colts (+3) 23, Vikings 20 - Jason winner, Dre loser - OK, I know the Colts were horrible last year, but how could the Vikings be three point road favorites in this game? Maybe the stats were against me on this pick, but you don't make a bad team a home dog against an equally bad team, do you? Andrew Luck played a nice game and the Vikes comeback was too little, too late.
• Eagles (+1) 24, Ravens 23 - Both losers - Dre has a saying for this: "fuck you, faggot Ravens!"
• Bills (-3) 35, Chiefs 17 - Jason winner, Dre loser - Wow, I'm sure glad I picked up CJ Spiller in my fantasy league. In other news, the Chiefs reek. So glad I picked them and the Saints as division winners.
• Bengals (-7) 34, Browns 27 - PUSH - The Bengals had this game sewn up plenty of times but kept letting the Browns get back to down 7. This should have been an easy cover but wasn't. Put no faith in the offensive show put on the Browns, the Bengals suck.
• Texans (-7) 27, Jaguars 7 - Both winners - Take note New England, this is what good teams do to inferior opponents. It's only two weeks, but Houston is scary good. Not to be one-sided, Jacksonville is also scary bad.
• Dolphins (+1) 35, Raiders 13 - Jason winner, Dre loser - Another home dog to a so-so opponent....curious. Reggie Bush ran like a man who knew his quarterback was Ryan Tannehill. In fact, Bush ran for 28 yards less than Tannehill threw for. How 1989 of the Dolphins.
• Seahawks (+3) 27, Cowboys 7 - Both winners - The Cowboys went in to "The Meat Grinder" and never had a chance. There's something about being isolated in the Pacific Northwest that seems to give the Seahawks some advantage at home. Maybe it's something in the water, who knows? Whatever it is, it's working, and Pete Carroll isn't giving away the secret.
• Rams (+3½) 31, Redskins 28 - Both winners - Even though the Rams stink, we knew that their defense wouldn't roll over like the Saints D did for RG3. As an added bonus, Dres buddy Sam Bradford had a nice day too, so I'm sure he was happy.
• Steelers (-5) 27, Jets 10 - Dre winner, Jason loser - I've never been so happy to lose a pick. Let's leave it at that.
• Chargers (-6½) 38, Titans 10 - Both winners - We all just know the Chargers are going to find a way to screw this all up, right? Right? Tennessee, on the other hand, will have nothing to screw up. They're statistically worse than the Jaguars right now, and that's not good.
• Niners (-7) 27, Lions 19 - Both winners - After the heartbreak of the NFC Championship loss to the Giants, the Niners look like a team on a mission to make up for their mistakes. Now if they can just find a way not to let Kyle Williams return punts in the playoffs they'll be fine.
• Falcons (-3) 27, Broncos 21 - Dre winner, Jason loser - For all the Peyton Manning turnovers, the Broncos were a Falcon third down conversion away from getting the ball back with a chance to take the lead late. A depleted Falcon secondary hung on for dear life after scheming Peyton Manning into some deep throws he clearly can't make anymore. I've seen less ducks at Oregon football games, and a Falcon D missing Brent Grimes, Chris Owens, and at times Asante Samuel, somehow managed 4 first quarter turnovers and got off to a lead they wouldn't relinquish, even though the high octane Falcon offense was rather stifled by the Denver D.