I think it was George Harrison years ago who wrote the song "When We Was Scab". Oh wait, that's not the title? My bad - but still, the refs have exploded into a new stratosphere of awfulness. The Packers-Seahawks ending was obviously the tipping point, but the Sunday Night game between New England and Baltimore also had enough ghastly whistles to inspire wonder. Cris Collinsworth's fascination was particularly interesting to regard. As Barney Rubble, er Ed Schultz noted last night - it was beautifully hilarious to see Paul Ryan and Scott Walker lament the absence of the football officials without a lick of irony. Now - don't get me wrong - the refs position in the lockout has not exactly oozed with sympathy (I mean I respect the fight to keep pension, but lots of us have lost that battle) but clearly their absence has shown in the brand on the field. They have won this in the public eye for sure - the league needs to get them back on the field. What has been particularly amazing is how bad the refs have been at the easy stuff - you'd like to think high school refs would at least get the basic ball spotting correct.
That said, there HAS been some non-scab football being played - and I'd be dishonest if I did not claim that the primetime games this past week (well not the Thursday night one) were absolutely compelling television programs. The brutal officiating has certainly created theater. How does it show in the rankings? As always this is a combination of head to head, adjusted scoring margin, record vs common opponents, and strength of schedule. The methodology is here.
1 (7). Atlanta Falcons (3-0)
2 (2). Arizona Cactus Wrens (3-0)
3 (9). Houston Non-Oilers (3-0)
4 (3). Seattle Seahawks (2-1)
5 (8). Baltimore Edgar Allan Poems (2-1)
6 (5). Denver Broncos (1-2)
7 (15). Northern New Jersey Jets (2-1)
8 (16). Dallas Cowboys (2-1)
9 (6). Philadelphia Iggles (2-1)
10 (17). Greater Boston and Providence Patriots (1-2)
11 (1). San Francisco 49ers (2-1)
12 (31). Minnesota Vikings (2-1)
13 (4). Green Bay State Controlled Comrades (1-2)
14 (20). Los Angeles Chargers of San Diego (2-1)
15 (19). Northern New Jersey Giants (2-1)
16 (12). Miami Gardens Porpoises (1-2)
17 (10). Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2)
18 (21). Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2)
19 (26). Buffalo Bills (2-1)
20 (13). Chicago Bears (2-1)
21 (18). Land Mass Surrounding Tampa Bay Bucs (1-2)
22 (24). Cincinnati Other Paul Browns (2-1)
23 (30). Dallas Texans of Kansas City (2-1)
24 (22). Baltimore Colts of Indianapolis (1-2)
25 (23). The Team that Al Davis Corpse Built (1-2)
26 (11). Detroit Lions (1-2)
27 (28). Houston Oilers of Nashville (1-2)
28 (14). Cleveland Rams of Saint Louis (1-2)
29 (25). Cleveland Paul Browns (0-3)
30 (27). Washington Not Quite Yet the Name Scott Brown Uses to Identify his Senatorial Opponent (1-2)
31 (29). Carolina Panthers (1-2)
32 (32). New Orleans Sinners (0-3)
As stated last week - it's early, and the violent fluctuations are driven by how the strength of schedule can shift quickly. So you have the Patriots moving up with a close road loss, as all of their other opponents all won - basically the Patriots close loss combined with their schedule looking better caused their ranking to increase. Similarly while the Bears won to go to 2-1, the Packers and Colts losses made up for it. What else to make of this week?
- The Cardinals met the skepticism that came with their 2-0 start with a resounding win over Philadelphia. 3-0 despite a fairly pedestrian offense. But that defense is excellent based on early evidence. They are starting to profile a lot like San Francisco last year - a team with a good defense and a do no harm offense.
- Speaking of the 49ers, last week's #1 takes a plunge after losing, and looking kind of shaky, to the Vikings. The Packers and Lions losses also compounded their drop. I still think they are for real and will bounce back, but apparently they are human.
- This week's #1, the Falcons - are a pretty hard choice to dispute. The way they have laid waste to their opponents so far, including a strong looking Chargers team, do their changes on offense give them the special sauce they have lacked in the past? This has been a good team under Mike Smith and the current management, but they have lacked that extra gear to be really fearsome. Have their changes given them that final explosiveness they need to be more than just an accumulator of regular season wins?
- Houston might as well punch their playoff ticket already. Their own ability combined with the desultory division, hard to envision them screwing this up.
- The stupidest thing you read is how a team that starts out 0-3 is unlikely to make the playoffs, as if the 0-3 proves anything. The real truth is that poor teams are more likely to have 0-3 stretches, and THAT's why they miss the playoffs. Now, we can agree that the Cleveland Browns are a bad team. But the Saints - coachless but not talentless. They have not just lost three games, but two home games, and against three opponents who have not beaten anybody else. Coaching is very important of course, but there is no excuse for just how poorly these players - especially on defense - have fared.
Lots of good important diaries in our community. This is not one of them. But I hope it is a welcome distraction as the week trucks forward.