The last thing the NFL would ever want is for an officiating

KANSAS CITY Hakeem Butler Jersey , Mo. (AP) — On Sunday, the league might have made enough errors to determine both teams that will play in the championship game in two weeks.The most egregious gaffe came in the NFC title game in New Orleans. The Saints were in position to put away the Rams when Tommylee Lewis blatantly was interfered with inside the Los Angeles 5-yard line by cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman. Not only did Robey-Coleman hit Lewis early, he did so helmet to helmet. Next weekend, we’ll hear about Robey-Coleman being fined for the collision — even though, incredibly, no flag was thrown.“Came to the sideline, looked at the football gods and was like, ‘Thank you,'” Robey-Coleman said. “I got away with one tonight.”Such a big one that it kept the Rams alive. Instead of a first down and the chance to run down the clock before making a field goal, or score a touchdown for a bigger lead, the Saints wound up with Wil Lutz’s 31-yard kick. That made it 23-20 with 1:41 left in regulation, plenty of time for the Rams to march to Greg Zuerlein’s tying 48-yard field goal.“Greg The Leg” won it with a 57-yarder in OT. His heroics almost certainly never would have happened had the call on Robey-Coleman been made. And the fact the defender led with his head into Lewis’ helmet at a time when the NFL is adamant that it’s doing everything to get such hits out of the sport should be even more maddening.“They felt like the players — the player — arrived at the same time that the ball did,” Saints coach Sean Payton said, trying to be diplomatic when he had every right to rant and rave. “They didn’t feel like it was an interference call.“Look, it’s a tough way to lose a game, especially when you’re in a position like that to win it. It’s all the more reason why we need more replay. We lose a chance to go to the Super Bowl with a call like that Chris Lindstrom Jersey , it’s just disappointing. But, credit the Rams. They did a good job, made the plays in the end when they needed to.”Plays that wouldn’t have existed if Bill Vinovich’s crew got it right.An argument often is made, and rightly so, that plays seen in slow motion become clearly illegal, but at full speed in an increasingly fast and physical game, they look OK. That contention has no place here; even at warp speed, Robey-Coleman’s hit was obviously a penalty.NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron “couldn’t believe” no penalty call was called on the play, Payton said.“It’s tough to get over it,” Payton said. “My problem with it is, I just don’t know, if we were playing pickup football in the backyard … it was as obvious a call — and how two guys can look at that and arrive at their decision? It happened though.”A few things happened in Kansas City, too, where the Patriots won 37-31, also in overtime. These had more to do with replay, with two critical calls going New England’s way in the fourth quarter.The first http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kaleb-mcgary-jersey , which required a lengthy video review, involved Julian Edelman muffing a punt. The original call was that the bouncing ball touched him. Replays, even in stop motion, seemed inconclusive, which means the call should stand.But Riveron and his staff in New York saw enough evidence that Edelman never made contact with the football. Even Kansas City’s laid-back coach, Andy Reid, became highly demonstrative with the overturned decision. Who could blame him considering how many dozens of such calls stick with what on-field officials determined?The Chiefs, perhaps in a dose of poetic justice, soon after intercepted a pass that went off Edelman’s hands.But later in the quarter, Chris Hogan attempted a one-handed catch on third down. Reid challenged, and replay indicated far more evidence the ground helped Hogan make the catch than the previous review showed Edelman whiffed on the ball.No matter. The catch was upheld, and six plays later, Sony Michel scored a touchdown.Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford also went offside on the Patriots’ final drive in regulation, negating an interception by Charvarius Ward that could have clinched a win. But there was little controversy there.The league has been under heavy scrutiny and drawn massive criticism about its officiating in the last few years. The perception is that the NFL needs full-time officials, which might help somewhat, and in part is being done.However Kendall Sheffield Jersey , the deeper issues are too many rules and tangents to those rules; points of emphasis that get hammered in, then seemingly are discarded; and officials who struggle to keep up with the speed of the sport. The league prizes experience, but when one of its most experienced crews blows a call so blatant that even the perpetrator acknowledges he caught a break, the storm of protest will rage.Rightly so. After two difficult losses, Odell Beckham Jr. saw a different energy in the New York Giants on Sunday.“We came out and played like we loved the game of football and we were kids just having fun,” the star receiver said. “It wasn’t like: ‘We’re down 0-2 and we’ve got to win.’ It was like: ‘Let’s go out and have fun today.’ That’s what we did, and we got the win.”Eli Manning threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns and rookie Saquon Barkley added a score as the Giants got a 27-22 victory over the struggling Houston Texans.The Giants (1-2) were up by 14 at halftime but had trouble moving the ball in the second half. The Texans (0-3) had cut the lead to five before Manning threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard with about two minutes left.“I always knew they had great resolve, but (Sunday) we just made enough plays to win,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “We went from being ‘almost’ in a lot of areas to finishing it.”Deshaun Watson threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Lamar Miller with 1 second left to cut the lead to 27-22, but New York recovered the onside kick.Watson threw for 385 yards and two scores, but his interception was one of two second-half turnovers by the Texans, off to their worst start since dropping their first four games of 2008.“I just try to think of ways to get us out of this,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “I know that it starts with me … I’ve got to figure out how to do a better job. It’s as simple as that.”Beckham had nine receptions for 109 yards and Barkley finished with 82 yards rushing as the Giants came one point shy of matching their points total from their first two games combined.A 54-yard field goal got Houston within 20-9 in the third quarter. The Texans forced a punt and were driving again when Miller caught a short pass and fumbled after a hit by Donte Deayon. The Giants recovered but couldn’t move the ball and had to punt after a drive that featured a sack by J.J. Watt.But the Texans turned over the ball again, this time when Watson was intercepted in the end zone by Alec Ogletree.Houston cut the lead to 20-15 when Will Fuller grabbed a 6-yard pass from Watson with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining, but the 2-point conversion failed.After leading the NFL in yards rushing through the first three games, the Texans couldn’t get anything going on the ground. They finished with 59 yards rushing http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-john-cominsky-jersey , and Miller managed just 10 yards on as many carries.The Texans led 3-0 after a 23-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn on their first drive. The Giants took their first lead this season when Barkley shed multiple tackles on a 15-yard run that made it 7-3.New York added two field goals before Manning connected with Rhett Ellison on a 16-yard touchdown to push the advantage to 20-3 late in the second quarter.Watt had a strip sack on third down to make the Giants settle for the second field goal. Watt hadn’t had a sack since Sept. 18, 2016 before taking Manning down on that play.Houston cut the lead to 20-6 at halftime after a 28-yard field goal.INJURY UPDATENew York tight end Evan Engram (knee) left in the second quarter. … Giants CB Antonio Hamilton injured his groin in the first quarter and didn’t return. … Houston WR Bruce Ellington injured his hamstring in the first quarter and didn’t return. … Texans G Senio Kelemete (knee) left in the second quarter.WATT’S DAYWatt, who played just eight games in the 2016-17 seasons because of injuries, finished with three sacks, three tackles for losses, four quarterback hits and a forced fumble. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year said he’s feeling progressively better every week and is glad to be contributing again.“It’s good to finally end such a long drought in that type of way,” he said. “But … personal stats don’t matter at all in a loss.”SPREADING IT AROUNDManning did a good job of spreading the ball around, completing at least one pass to six players and finding three guys five or more times.“I think you want to get everybody involved,” he said. “We got off to a fast start and needed a big drive at the end to win the game and we were able to do it.”ELIMINATING PENALTIESThe Texans are searching for a way to eliminate penalties on offense after committing several false start and holding penalties. Right tackle Julien Davenport was the worst offender and had three false start and two holding penalties.“It’s the story of penalties, mistakes,” Davenport said. “I don’t know how many penalties I had, but way too much. Hurt this team badly. I’ve got to eliminate it all.”UP NEXTGiants: Host New Orleans next Sunday.Texans: Visit the Colts next Sunday.