I’m not sure if you heard, but the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Green Bay Packers this weekend, thus ending the most magical, charmed one-game run through the NFL playoffs in history.
For anyone who was a Detroit Lions’ player, coach or fan, the game provided a delicious bit of ironic deja-vu. Late in the game on a critical fourth down, Tony Romo heaved the ball deep for Dez Bryant, who appeared to make a remarkable catch. As Bryant fell to the ground and appeared to stretch for the goal line, however, the ball moved from his control. Under the current replay system, it was obvious what would happen next.
It was the playoff return of the dreaded Calvin Johnson rule, and everyone knew it was coming, even the Dallas players and staff who feigned sideline shock. Since Bryant didn’t possess the ball through the play, there was no other course of action but to take the catch away. The call was as rediculous in 2015 as it was in 2010, when Johnson appeared to catch an improbable game-winning score in Chicago before slamming the ball to the turf at the very end.
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But lest us forget Cowboy fans, rules are rules, right? Dallas had plenty of chances to win despite the call. That’s what many crowed last week when Anthony Hitchens mugged Brandon Pettigrew yet was remarkably absconded of wrongdoing by Pete Morelli and crew, who stood on the weakened basis that facegarding is legal in the NFL. It was Bryant who ran on the field like a spoiled child to protest the initial call, yet was not disciplined for his unusual intervention. Both non-calls helped changed that game nearly as much as Gene Steratore’s call-reversal directed the Cowboys’ fortune.
Sunday, it was Bryant who was forced to mope on the other end, as despondent as he was jovial a week ago after referees played a significant role in deciding the outcome of another game.
As several Lions tweeted later during the night, karma certainly has a funny way of coming back around to bite down hard on the posterior region, doesn’t it?
Despite hilarious doublespeak from talking heads like Skip Bayless and the comedy of watching karma play out live, viewers of the NFL should be disappointed regardless of team allegiance. They should demand more. Things have to change with the NFL rulebook, because nobody should have to hear explanations from Dean Blandino every Monday about what went wrong the Sunday before. Nobody wants to hear reasoning behind ridiculous interpretations of rules, many of which shouldn’t be law in the first place.
When Blandino is getting network face-time to rival a player or coach, that’s the first sign of a major problem. The league spins it as transparency, but it’s closer to tragety. Of the other major sports, naming the director of officiating is next to impossible. Why? They’re not in the news, nor do they have to be, nor are they available to be. Corrections have to come from the NFL here.
When Blandino is getting network face-time to rival a player or coach, that’s the first sign of a major problem. The league spins it as transparency, but it’s closer to tragedy.
Fortunately, the several oddities from this playoff season have amplified this to the extent that change may be inevitable. Referees need to be held to a higher standard. More power needs to be given to the coaches to responsibly challenge penalties they feel were missed, and the rule book as a whole needs to adapt with the game itself. The league has to know it.
If they don’t comprehend that now, when will they ever?
Another Monday, another wasted day spent discussing interpretations of rules instead of superior play by wonderful athletes. Sadly, that’s another unfortunate par for the NFL’s current course.