Tag Archives: Los Angeles Rams

’25 NFC Divisional – LA Rams vs Chicago Bears

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The beginning and end to this game will be how the Rams  handle the cold and the wind. Back before the ’85 NFC Championship Game between these two teams Mike Ditka said “The Rams, they’re a Smith, we’re the Grabowski’s” referring to the fair haired soft Southern Californians vs tough gritty Chicagoans.

Matt Stafford is our choice for MVP of the league and he’ll need all his guile to get past the Bears. However he struggles from time to time amd it shows up for a half in games. Most notably on the road where he went 4-4 on the season. He woke up late in a dogfight in Carolina and pulled it out with a 4th quarter TD. He couldnt in the regular season in a road loss to the Panthers and this game is going to be 50+ degrees colder than that with windchill.

He struggled in the cold whem he plaued in the NFC North in the 9 years he was there.

Chicago’s defense would be carved up inside a Dome but the elements belong in the game. They will take advantage of the noise and the predicted 17 mph winds will cause issues. They are 6-2 at home and have found more ways to win with 2nd year pro Caleb Williams.

Williams with 5 4th quarter comebacks is coming of age similar to John Elway back in 1986. In his 1st playoff he had to make it happen on 4th and 8 and made a legendary throw for the 1st down.  Make that 6 4th quarter come from behind wins as they vanquished the Packers 31-27.

Teams traveling east for cold playoff games usually come up short. Williams did play for Southern Cal but this is his 2nd season in The Windy City and he is accustomed to throwing there. The wind didnt bother him against Green Bay last week.

He will make plays on the Rams secondary and the Bears should outlast the frozen Rams for a 28-16 win.

The Bears will prevail…

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2025 NFC West Preview!

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When you hear an aging quarterback is having aches and pains its one thing, but not practicing or playing in a preseason when the team’s biggest acquisition is a top flight receiver? Not good and when its the back of a 37 year old Matt Stafford, its impossible to look off the beating he took as qurterback of the Detroit Lions and recently out in Los Angeles.

A healthy  Matt Stafford and this team could make the NFC Championship however the crystal ball says he won’t and will succumb to missing 4 games this year due to a rising defense within the division.

NFC West 2025 Prediction:

  1. Arizona Cardinals 11-6 *
  2. Los Angeles Rams 9-8
  3. San Francisco 49ers 6-10
  4. Seattle Seahawks 3-14

With the addition of 2nd round selection CB Will Johnson, DT Calais Campbell, and DE Josh Sweat the Cardinals defense will vault from 21st into the top 10.

Johnson was college football’s best defensive back at Michigan and was skating to a top 10 selection until he was lost to injury in his last year. At 6’2 200 lbs, he has the physicality to face up with an “X” and the agility to blanket a “Z”. He is a 1 stepper that jumps routes with the best and has the chance to be the Cardinals best ever Corner. The kid is special.  Did you notice how many plays he made against All American Marvin Harrison Jr in the video? Those were huge Michigan v OSU matchups. Now they sharpen each other’s iron on the same team in the pros.

Josh Sweat should have been Super Bowl LIX MVP with his 2 1/2 sack performance against Mahomes back in February. He had my vote…  They need him to build off the 25 sacks garnered over the last 3 seasons playing in Philadelphia’s defensive rotation. Keep in mind his best season came in ’22 with 11.5 sacks playing for current Head Coach Jonathan Gannon when the Eagles played in Super Bowl LVII. The team with 70 sacks.

A lead dog pass rusher was what the Cardinals needed to force more turnovers and errant throws. Schematically their pass defense has been sound. In ’24 they were 14th against the pass but was 5th in fewest touchdowns allowed with 20. They plan on forcing more turnovers and creating short fields for the offense.

This is a make or break year for Kyler Murray and he has to show he can play within the specificity of the offense. Last year this team started 4-4 losing close games to Buffalo (34-28) and Detroit (20-13) when Murray played well. The growth has been steady and he has to put it all together and have Marvin Harrison Jr in his 2nd year where he is set to make a big leap to elite status. This team has the chance to start 6-0 this year and will win the West.

The 49ers brought back DC Robert Saleh but the defense has been rebuilt and no longer has the DLine rotation he enjoyed in his 1st stint. Fred Warner is there to lead a youthful unit but they will have some growing pains this year. Do you realize the 49ers are missing 7 defensive starters since Super Bowl XLVIII just a year and a half ago?

Brock Purdy got the big payday and now has to be the catalyst to San Francisco’s offense with TE Kittle and a Christian McCaffrey who was injury riddled in 2024 and has some serious mileage on his tires. 49ers brass traded for RB Brian Robinson to lighten the load. Keep in mind McCaffrey has missed 37 games due to leg injuries dating back to 2020 and if you notice, more workhorse style backs are who they bring in to spell him.

The loss of Deebo Samuel will be huge. Over the last 4 years he was the swiss army knife of the offense they could turn to when a critical 1st down was needed. He did it from the backfield, the slot, bubble screens, jet sweeps and reverses. Without him Purdy will be called on to make more throws when defenses will be expecting them. The limitations in his play that surfaced last year will be front and center without Deebo to mask deficiencies.

The Cardinals have a rough and rugged team and will emerge in the NFC West in 2025. They have to learn to win those games they have stayed close in the past. This is a lesson they will learn but they start the season with an extremely favorable schedule. Gannon’s team will cash in this season.

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Kevin Greene Belongs In The Pro Football Hall of Fame: War Damn Eagle!

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Originally Published 3, March 2011 w/ Postscript 10, August 2016 

Link to original: Here

There are players that come along and break the mold and there are those that totally destroy it.  Enter Kevin Greene, one of my personal favorite players and one of the reason I love football (all sports) in the first place.  He broke molds, stereotypes, changed perceptions as much as any player over the last 25 years.  What am I talking about? Do you realize that of all the outside linebackers, the player with the most sacks in a career is Kevin Greene?  Do you realize that Kevin Greene had double digit sacks for FOUR different pro football teams? Yet I digress…

As the 1980s beckoned, the 3-4 defense became the choice of many teams as the best way to attack NFL offenses.  All that changed with the 1985 Chicago Bears march to the Super Bowl. As teams started to revert back to the 4-3 defense as a staple, a lessor known talent started to lay his foundation out west with the Los Angeles Rams in 1986.

Kevin Greene started to rush as an outside linebacker in 1986 and recorded 7 sacks that year. Yet he didn’t gain notoriety until 1988 when he bested Lawrence Taylor with 16 1/2 sacks to 15 1/2 for the NFC lead at linebacker.  Whereas the majority of the modern age athletic linebackers were black, Kevin Greene was a white defensive player who broke that mold and with his crazy “War Eagle” Auburn attitude he was a great pass rusher from that season on.  A player that other Rams looked to on game day to lead them on and off the field.

Kevin in 1994 during his Blitzburgh days.

However by the time we move to 1993, very few teams employed the 3-4 defense. Then the Steelers went looking for a linebacker to match Greg Lloyd that would be more effective than Jerrol Williams.  Kevin Greene signed, and Pittsburgh became Blitzburgh.

The Steelers had two outstanding linebackers to crash the pocket.    The last bastion of 3-4 defense at the time and Greene was the impetus of a chaotic defense.  Who should blitz? Who should drop? Dick Lebeau, Dom Capers, and Bill Cowher tinkered with different zone blitzing schemes that became the scourge of the league.  He helped the ’94 and ’95 teams to the AFC Championship and Super Bowl XXX respectively.  During his 3 years in Pittsburgh he recorded 12.5 sacks in ’93,  14 sacks in ’94, and 9 sacks in ’95.  It was Kevin Greene’s arrival that made the Steelers defense lethal.

Even after outplaying the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX and poised to return to the title game from a personnel standpoint, the Steelers let Greene go for a younger Jason Gildon. He rejoined Dom Capers who moved on to become head coach of the expansion Carolina Panthers. There he tag teamed with Lamar Lathon, formerly of the Houston Oilers, to form a 1-2 linebacker punch equal to that of Blitzbugh.

In his single season in San Fran, Greene helped the ‘Niners to the 1997 NFC Championship against Green Bay.

He recorded his second highest career sack total, at the time, with 14.5 in Carolina. He led the league with Lathon coming in second in sacks with 13.5.  Again he was the impetus of a veteran laden defense that dethroned the champion Dallas Cowboys in a divisional playoff and made it to the 1996 NFC Championship Game where they lost to Green Bay.  The Carolina Panthers made it to the NFC Championship Game in only their second season.  Wow.

After a falling out with Carolina brass following that 1996 season, for which owner Jerry Richardson later apologized, he signed a 1 year deal in San Francisco where he was a pass rushing specialist and only started four games.  Yet amazingly he still compiled 10.5 sacks and helped the 49ers to the 1997 NFC Championship game where they fell to the Packers 23-10.  See a pattern here?  After the apology from Richardson, Greene re-signed with Carolina and played on for two more years for them recording 15 sacks in 1998 and 12 in 1999.

Kevin Greene was a street fighter tough player who brought that attitude to any team he played for.  He was a blood and guts player that teamed with Greg Lloyd and Lamar Lathon, each had their best years across from Greene.

What was the most puzzling aspect of Kevin Greene’s career was how teams kept thinking they’d replace him even though he was super productive and I wonder would he have moved around so much had he been a black outside linebacker.  I don’t think he would have.  You can’t tell me race had nothing to do with it either.  He was athletic, strong, tenacious and for the life of me can’t figure why teams  thought they’d replace him.  Do you realize that for 4 straight years, Kevin Greene was a defensive stalwart on 3 different teams that made it to the conference championship game?  Twice is a coincidence, four is a pattern.  He was a winner.

Greene, making his presence felt early in the 1994 AFC Championship Game.

How do you gauge impact?  The most sacks in NFL history for a linebacker with 160 and third all time behind Reggie White and Bruce Smith.  He was a 5 time Pro Bowl participant and made the All Pro team twice. He led the league in sacks twice during his career. If that’s not enough… Add the fact Greg Lloyd and Lamar Lathon’s best sack totals of their careers came when they teamed with Greene.  Lloyd had 10 sacks in 1994 and the aforementioned Lathon’s 1996 total of 13.5 in Carolina.

Each team he left had a defensive dropoff in production and wins.  The ’96 Steelers barely made the playoffs and were run out of town in New England when they got there, thanks to Curtis Martin’s 166 yards rushing, losing 28-3.  The 97 & 2000 Panthers didn’t make the playoffs. The 98 49ers were scored upon heavily even though they made it to the divisional round.  Even then they needed Steve Young’s miracle throw to T.O. to beat the Packers in the Wildcard Game to get there.

So if the greatest defensive player in NFL history is Lawrence Taylor, rightfully so, who finished with 132 sacks in his career, where does that put Kevin Greene and his 160?? Happened in the same era, so that can’t be argued.  Quite simply he belongs.

For induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I present to you, Kevin Greene.

EPILOGUE:  I am getting the greatest kick out of watching the growth of Clay Matthews III.  Its like watching some weird Frankenstein thats part Clay Matthews the father (Browns) and Kevin Greene.  The style of play and to watch them interact.

I was fortunate enough to be on the Ravens sideline pregame and front row seats behind the Baltimore Ravens bench when they played the Arizona Cardinals in 2003. I watched how Mike Singletary and Ray Lewis interacted and see much the same in Greene and Matthews.  When the television mic caught Greene conveying to Matthews during the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLV that it was time for him to put his imprint on the game.  Then to watch him force the Mendenhall fumble two plays later gave me goosebumps.  To watch him so in tune with his protege’ is cool and can’t wait to watch their encore.

Greene and protege’ Clay Matthews III

Postscript August 10, 2016: Fast forward 5 years and here we are a couple days removed from Kevin’s enshrinement into The Pro Football Hall of Fame. I had the great opportunity to be there at both the Gold Jacket Ceremony and The Enshrinement as his guest. For the small role I had in advocating his candidacy may have been the sole reason for Taylor Blitz Times in the first place. It was an honor to do it and I am grateful to Kevin and his wife Tara for inviting me.

kev.ticketHowever they set a football fanatic loose on the unsuspecting city of Canton. I had the chance to meet with former teammates and coaches that have known him over his football life. His coaches from high school all the way through to the NFL. I jumped in and made sure to get down into where the fans were and wound up becoming the 1st person to pay for his authenticated by the Pro Football Hall of Fame autograph.

chancellor.kevTo watch him receive his Gold Jacket was an emotional moment as a big time fan. To hear his impassioned speech gave credence to all that I knew and heard over the last few days from his Auburn, Rams, and Steelers’ teammates, his father at the airport with Coach Vermeil, his high school freshman coach Nick Petrillo, to meeting Lamar Lathon at the after party who was recalling this very article with Thurman Thomas.

It was great to see Kevin take his rightful place and become one of the giants of the game and one of it’s great ambassadors. It’s been an unbelievable 5 year ride as you’ve taken your place as one of pro football’s immortals. Congratulations Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Greene!!

As for that ticket… he signed a white Steelers #91 Greene jersey. The whereabouts of the ticket?? I gave it to Kevin who put it in his Hall of Fame Gold Jacket interior pocket… Mission accomplished.

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Huge Quarterback Salaries: Feast or Famine?? Part II

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The most interesting offseason since the 1993 advent of free agency culminated with Green Bay resigning Aaron Rodgers to a whopping $50 million per season. Some might argue it’s the return of Tom Brady but its not having the immediate ripple affect like this signing. Now Rodger’s favorite target Davante Adams is unnerved with the franchise tag draped over his wishes to get a new deal. Last we heard he said he wouldn’t play under that designation.

It could be a ploy to get brass to offer a long term contract however ramifications have hit with the release of Za’Darius Smith. He missed almost all of last year but flashed for 26 sacks 5 forced fumbles and earned Pro Bowl berths in his previous 2 years with the club.

These are the first two dominoes to fall in an offseason that still has the Packers nearly $7 million over the cap and the draft is still a month away.

What will happen with Davante Adams and will it affect chemistry when he comes back??

This is the second installment where I’m asking the question on large quarterback deals crippling the rest of the roster. Is it feast or famine??

The ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl and the huge QB deals have not proven to win you the big game. Before we go any further lets point a few things out:

NFL salary rankings of QBs who won Super Bowl in the last 10 years.
2021. Matthew Stafford 13th highest
2020. Tom Brady 15th highest
2018. Tom Brady 12th highest
2017. Carson Wentz 18th /Nick Foles not available
2016. Tom Brady 18th highest
2015. Peyton Manning 6th highest
2013. Russell Wilson 51st highest
2012. Joe Flacco 16th highest
Take a wild guess when the last time an NFL team with the highest paid quarterback won the Super Bowl?? Try Steve Young in Super Bowl XXIX to conclude the 1994 season. Super Bowl 29?? We’re headed to Super Bowl 57 next February.
Tom Brady reworked his contract on 8 different occassions and its no coincidence he has played on squads with top level talent around the roster. He has made the Super Bowl a bi-annual habit.
Get this.. the Rams won LVI with Stafford as the 13th highest paid while trading away the 6th highest in Jared Goff. So before they nabbed Von Miller from Denver they locked up CB Jalen Ramsey with a contract extension in September.
Its at this point you can see where Devante Adams is coming from. The Rams saved $7 million going from Goff to Stafford and every bit of it was needed to make the roster moves they did. Including Odell Beckham signing for a minimum deal and a chance at immortality.
So a part of the equation when The Chancellor doesn’t pick a mistake prone Dak Prescott $40 million, bypass a polarizing Aaron Rodgers $50 million and looks favorably on the LA Chargers and Justin Herbert on a rookie deal, don’t act surprised.
The ink is just drying on several moves, including the trade they just made for 2 time Taylor Blitz Times Defensive Player of the Year in Khalil Mack. Which looks a lot like the Von Miller deal the Rams used to vault to NFL champion status. Hmmmmmm??
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2019 NFC West Previews & Predictions

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Once the final seconds ticked away at the conclusion of Super Bowl LIII, a series of questions rose to greet the Rams before they trudged back to their locker room. Scott McVay’s “Boy Wonder” status had been ripped to shreds in a 13-3 loss where the Rams offense couldn’t get out of it’s own way.

What was the impetus for RB Todd Gurley’s diminished role in LIII just as it had been down in the NFC Championship in New Orleans?? Did Gurley really hurt his knee where Rams brass kept it quiet or was it fall out from his appearance on LeBron James’ show “The Shop”??

How did the NFL’s highest scoring team, averaging 32.9 points per game, wind up tied with the Dolphins of Super Bowl VI with the lowest game total in S.B. history with 3 points?? Have McVay and Jared Goff recovered from being dominated in a world championship game when all eyes were on them??

When you lose a Super Bowl all questions rise to the surface and no team recent memory has as much to answer to than the defending NFC Champions.

One of the teams they have to stave off to repeat as NFC West champions is the #1 rushing attack of Seattle. Pete Carroll’s 3 headed monster, Chris Carson (1,141 rush yds), Mike Davis (514 yds) & Rashad Penny (420 yds) combined for 15TDs while averaging 4.7 yards per rush. Their combined 2,084 yards running established attitude and tone the Seahawks hadn’t seen since Marshawn Lynch. With Penny coming on at the end of the season it’s hard to see this group along with the front line not becoming the bellwether focal point of a young ball club.

2019 NFC West Predictions

  1. Seattle Seahawks 11-5 *
  2. Los Angeles Rams 9-7**
  3. San Francisco 49ers 6-10
  4. Arizona Cardinals 4-12

Pete Carroll’s team finished winning 6 of their last 7 and was the most solid NFC team coming down the stretch. Now they add the 4.3 speed and size of 2nd round draft pick DK Metcalf to bolster a receiver group in flux. He has the size and speed to become the 1st #1 receiver in Russell Wilson’s tenure. For the 1st time this team will be known for their offensive strength and rely on timely defense vs an overpowering one.

Eventually 49er QB Jimmy Garoppolo was going to have to hit the field and earn his large contract. Truth be told he struggled at the beginning of last year which should be the case at the start of 2019. He hasn’t played against live fire in nearly a year. Fan favorite backup Nick Mullens will have a chance to wrest a few starts from Garoppolo if this team starts 0-3 with a bye in the 4th week.

However the 49ers have bolstered their defense with the signing of free agent LB Kwon Alexander,1st round draft pick Joey Bosa and acquiring DE Dee Ford along with former Raider and Seahawk LB Malcolm Smith. The 49ers should have one of the better defenses in the NFC. It will make for closer games however the Niner offense lacks explosion so they’ll keep games close but…

The Niners running by committee and lack of explosive playmakers on offense will short circuit efforts early in the season. They’ll win a few ugly games late. Keep in mind this team was 1-5 in the division last year. They have to establish themselves here.

In Tinsletown the Rams are ready to bounce back from their Super Bowl meltdown… however we need to find out about Todd Gurley first. Last year Gurley was one of the best weapons in the NFL yet something happened. On Dec 2nd, Gurley rushed for 132 yds on 23 carries and 2 scores and was the big strike RB earning his $57 million contract. Two days later he appeared on Lebron James show “The Shop” where James famously made the comment “NFL owners had a plantation mentality” and all of a sudden we didn’t see him carrying the football.

In the last 4 games of the season he had 11, 12, 0, and 0 carries to finish the season. Interestingly in the wild card win over Dallas he burst for 115 yards on 16 carries yet played 2nd fiddle to CJ Anderson’s 123 yards on 23 carries and 2 scores. Then back in hibernation mode with 4 attempts for 10 yards in the NFC Championship Game and 10 carries for 35 yards in the Super Bowl. Hmmmmmm?? OK

Well there was some fudging with the injury report with an arthritic knee unofficially we learned leading up to the Super Bowl yet it wasn’t reported. Another theory is Gurley was silenced and pulled out of the lineup for the appearance on The Shop… it came at the height of the national anthem debate and in the black community we spoke of it on social media and in the blogosphere. He didn’t defend ownership or give a rebuttal to the “slave mentality” comment and we won’t know for some time.

Either way Gurley and the Rams have to deal with the psychological fallout from this and the Super Bowl flameout or a star running back with an arthritic knee. For one who relies on jump cuts and option routes on LBs and Nickel backs in the passing game, this is a problem and he could be worn down by week 12.

We’re waiting to see how Jared Goff bounces back from the Super Bowl. Goff enjoyed a Pro Bowl year completing 364 of 561 passes for 4,688 yards and 32 scores. Yet he only threw for 1 TD in 3 postseason games and didn’t throw for more than 300 yards in any of the 3. In this copycat league teams will follow what the Patriots did and disguise their coverages then shift into a new look when the play clock gets down to :15. This is when Sean McVay can no longer speak to him in his helmet speaker. He HAS to be able to audible and move his offense into different formations to beat defenses on his own and not just rely on presnap play design.

Keep in mind as NFC Champs they are going to get everyone’s best shot and this team was only 3-3 against playoff teams in the regular season. If the Rams can start fast they won’t have to deal with all these items discussed except Taylor Blitz sees a 3-3 start this year and the talk will begin. They will miss the playoffs in 2019.

Pete Carroll and the Seahawks win the division.

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NFL Playoffs & Historically Bad Calls Take Two

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During each postseason every football fan dreads a moment where the game is decided by the referees and not the players on the field. We think back to “The Tuck Rule”, Mike Renfro’s catch/non catch in the ’79 AFC Championship, or Bert Emanuel’s catch/non catch in the NFC Championship. Yet yesterday for the 1st time since Referee Jim Tunney made the call after Renfro’s catch had a nationally televised audience yelling in anguish at a moment instant replay could have corrected.

Sean Payton despairs over one of the most egregious non calls in NFL history.

Football coaches and players at all levels will tell you “The eye in the sky doesn’t lie” meaning the truth is always caught on film. It’s there for teams to study film against an opponent or the camera can catch what has been missed by the naked eye of an out of place referee. On Sunday we were stricken with two occasions that marred both conference championship games.

Which raises some questions for the NFL:

  • Why can’t penalties or missed penalties like pass interference be reviewed??
  • Why can’t a team challenge a play during the last two minutes of a ball game when it’s the most important time of the contest??
  • Why does the ruling in under 2 minutes to go take place in a backroom at the NFL’s offices and not an official on the field in the arena??

Lets take a look at the 1st in the NFC Championship. With just 1:49 to go in a 20-20 tie at the 13 yard line, Drew Brees faced a 3rd and 10. Brees threw toward the near sideline to Tommylee Lewis who had run a wheel route out of the backfield when… and here it is in real time:

Coach Sean Payton screaming at the official withstanding, there were several penalties that could have and should have been called.

  • Pass Interference: Robey-Coleman never turned to locate the ball colliding with Lewis before the ball arrived.
  • Personal Foul: Blow to the head of a receiver reaching for the football.
  • Illegal Contact: As Robey-Coleman hit Lewis at the 6 yard line, 7 yards from the line of scrimmage. You’re only allowed to chuck a receiver 5 yards downfield or under.

The fact we’re talking the final minutes of a conference championship game on the line and a Super Bowl berth at stake, this is one of the worst outcomes in the history of the league.  The fact you had Fox analyst Mike Pereira, who is the former Vice President of Officiating for the NFL right there expressing there could have been two of the penalties I just highlighted lent to a national televised audience despair with the situation. Let alone the emotional release of the Super Dome crowd who was witnessing “the great train robbery.” With booing you could have heard across state lines in Mississippi.

Our minds as fans were just coming to grips with the fiasco in New Orleans and the NFC Championship when the AFC Title Tilt reached the 4th quarter. With 7:05 to go in the game Kansas City held the momentum and a 21-17 lead when Chris Jones was flagged for a “roughing the passer” penalty. It was such a bad call both Jim Nantz and Tony Romo were in the middle of professing it was a phantom call when former NFL official Gene Sterratore offered this commentary:

Andy Reid should have been allowed to challenge that personal foul call!!

Now we have to talk about what needs to be done in this situation. First where has Roger Goodell been in the midst of one of the worst scandals in the history of the NFL?? His silence is glaring during a week when the league’s integrity is being called into question. With a Super Bowl on the line, these calls to put what many feel to be the match-up the league office wanted to see makes this the equivalent of the Black Sox Scandal in baseball a century earlier. If the Los Angeles Rams were to win down in Atlanta next Sunday, the NFL could wind up with it’s first champion with claims against it’s legitimacy.

There are several precedents that should have taken place. Goodell should have stepped in and had the final 1:49 of that game replayed. However he didnt and we have to guard the integrity of the game and remove the league office from the involvement of any contest while it’s going on. The league office controlling the official instant replay calls with 2:00 or under has always been a sore spot of contention anyway.

#1. The official in charge of the game to make any and all decisions need to be in charge of the game. Not some nefarious figure in the NFL office. What difference does it make to change a call in the 1st quarter if you’re derailed by an untimely call at the most important juncture of the game??

#2. Open Instant Replay challenges to three (per half) to all coaches and allow challenges at any and all times of the game. This needs to be opened up to challenge penalties called on the field and any 15 yard foul or defensive penalty that carries the weight of an automatic first down whether called or not called.

#3. The NFL needs to move to assigning officiating crews who have worked together all year to oversee playoff games. Not an all star crew. This way these officials know how to work together and communicate verbal and non-verbal along with confidently conferring with each official before making a big call in an important juncture of a playoff game.

The purpose of instant replay as an officiating tool is to get the call right. Ironically the day before these events, The Chancellor heard from Jim Tunney “The Dean of NFL Referees” about the controversial call in the ’79 AFC Championship his crew made on Mike Renfro’s catch/no catch that gave berth to the first incarnation of instant replay in officiating:

Here is what Jim Tunney offered as an explanation: 

That scenario offered finality in knowing Tunney and his officials made the call on the field that day. As a historian I’ve never been able to speak on the Steelers as Super Bowl XIV champions and I doubt I would be able to do so if the Rams win it next Sunday.

However we need to see changes and the NFL needs to guard it’s integrity by letting the officials and an instant replay official on-site make every call concerning any contest. Blown calls need to be reversed even when it comes to a penalty being called or reversing a call where a flag had been thrown. Too much is at stake here.

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