I'm a Packers fan, so I'm happy with the final result, but can anyone else believe what's going on out there? These officials look like they should be doing Little League games or something. The Lions did eventually score a TD, but they might've had one earlier, when Mcmahon threw to the corner with about 30 seconds left. It was very close, and in the last two minutes, its the officials upstairs responsibility to review the play. They let it go. The very next play was a simple pass near being out of bounds... they decided to review that, and overturned it. And, of course, it would've never been that close if the Packers had been given the TD earlier when Batch fumbled in the end zone. It was extremely clear that Theiry (Packers DE) had both hands around the football in the end zone for at least a couple of seconds, and then was stripped (after he was in the end zone). An obvious TD, right? Nope. Call stands, its a safety, when a TD would've put it away. In the first half, when Favre fumbled and the Lions got a TD, it sure looked like to me that the ball was in Favre's arm when it hit the turf, and then popped out... nope. TD. Many times you can detect a bias towards the home team, or the underdog, or favorite, or someone in games. Not today. It was equally horrid against both teams. It was a great game, but how is that crew of officials even in the NFL?
From an unbiased standpoint: Although the officiating was horrid (I agree on the Pop Warner reference), I disagree with your view of some of the plays in question. The rule is that the call on the field stands unless there is substantial evidence to overturn it. On the safety. The call on the field was "safety". If you watched the replay very closely, it "looked" like the ball may have been shifting in the defensive player's hand, and he "may" not have had total "possession" of the ball. Therefore, there was not enough evidence to overturn the call on the field. On the Favre fumble. I forget what the ruling on the play was. At first I thought that the ground had caused the fumble. Most of the camera angles didn't do anything to change my mind. But, the last one they showed facing Favre, showed the ball twisting out of his hand an instant before it hit the ground, which was evident of him losing possession of the ball. It was a tough call, but I think the officials eventually made the right one in that case. On the TD that was not given to the Lions near the end. That was a total breakdown of the instant replay system. The play was obviously a close one, and there was absolutely no effort made to take a look at it. I also have to partially blame the Lions headcoach for not calling a timeout, to give the replay booth time to call a review. In fact, I blame coaching more than anything for the Lions loss. Their lack of execution, penalties, and a few other subtle instances (the no timeout call) showed to me an extreme lack of discipline and hence coaching on the Lions side of the field tonight. On the catch-out of bounds call. I cannot believe they reversed that call. I'm sure everyone noticed how quickly the replay booth notified the field referees after they blew the play before. But, the call on the field was that the receiver made the catch. If you saw the replay he got one foot in, but not the other. But, according to the rule book, he didn't have to get any feet in, because he was pushed. In fact, the stupid as$ official who finally made the overturn call even said that the receiver got one foot in and was pushed out of bounds over his stupid microphone. What a friggin' bonehead. I just don't see how there was sufficient evidence in the replay (which showed the defender push the receiver) to overturn the call on the field.
