What Happened to the Officials?

Broncos Vs Falcons game:  My thoughts

The Falcons played flawless football.  They dominated the Bronco offense and managed to move the ball against a great Bronco defense.  In the end, I don't think they're a better team than the Broncos.  Although that doesn't' matter because they played that way tonight and that's what really counts.  They're 2-0 and they earned it.  Ultimately, the Broncos played very poorly and dug themselves into a deep hole with four first quarter turnovers.  End of freaking story.  My complaint is with the officials.

I don't want to say that it is because of the officials that the Falcons won.  The game would have most likely had the same outcome considering how well they were playing versus how terrible the Broncos were playing.  The best team won today.  But anyone watching football these past two weeks can easily tell that these replacement referees are destroying professional football.  Every game I've watched these past couple of weeks has been overrun with yellow flags and piss poor calls.  Here are a few you may recall from tonights game.

-The pass interference call against the Broncos defense when the player was clearly three feet away from the receiver.

-The fumble recovery that was awarded to the Falcons when it was a Bronco player who emerged from the pile, ball in hand.  

-The part where the Falcons where called for defensive holding and the refs moved the ball six yards closer to the end zone when it shouldn't have been.

A couple of those are game changing calls.  I think it was a third down incompletion when pass interference was called.  The Falcons went on to score a touchdown.  They wouldn't have had that opportunity if it weren't for that botched call.  The Broncos were in field goal position after that fumble and yet the ball was given to the Falcons.  Would the Broncos have scored that touchdown at the end of the half if the ball was placed where it was supposed to be?  We will never know.  The game is over and the end result is what it is.  But as football fans, we cannot excuse this type of officiating.  The NFL is a professional league and I feel that the refs need to match that standard.  Now we've all been in that position where we blame the refs for a loss, and most of the time we know deep down that it really wouldn't have mattered.  Now, however, fans can probably makes those claims with some validity behind them.  

I'm not entirely sure I can put up with the entire season so as long as these referees are managing the games.  It has been an awful first two weeks in the NFL and I'm sure fans from every team can agree.  My wife is a Steelers fan and she has pointed out all the terrible calls against the Steelers when they faced off against the Broncos.  I think the NFL needs to give in to the real refs and punt these terrible replacements back to wherever they came from so we can get some nice, clean football.  This way, when a team like the Falcons makes my Broncos look like a little league team, I'll have only the donkeys to bitch about.