NFLBy Kevin McGuire on

The NFL relaxed the celebration rules. Now it’s time to relax the instant replay rules.

It’s long past time to allow officials in all sports to be able to use some common sense in the instant replay process. For example, in hockey, if viewing an overhead shot of a goalie’s glove crossing the line but covering the puck that obviously crossed the line, the officials cannot call it a goal because they cannot actually see the puck. It’s dumb, and the NHL should change that because common sense should be applied in a situation like that.

On Sunday, the NFL didn’t have quite that same kind of situation, but it was one close enough to start the rally call for allowing for basic common sense to come into play before a game is decided on an over-officiated moment.

The Jets didn’t technically get screwed, but yeah, they got screwed

The New England Patriots won on the road against the New York Jets, which may not come as much of a surprise to anyone who has been following the NFL for the past decade. But these Jets may not be the pushovers we expected to see this season, and they came into Sunday wanting to prove they can go toe-to-toe with the Patriots. And they did. And if not for a bizarre, awful rule interpretation and implementation, perhaps the Jets would have handed the Patriots the “L.”

Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins appeared to have scored a touchdown after falling toward the end zone, and a touchdown was initially ruled by the official nearest the action at the goal line. However, officials took back the touchdown after deciding Seferian-Jenkins had actually fumbled the football away and did not recover possession of the football inbounds before falling to the ground out of bounds.

Here’s what the officials determined was a fumble that led to a touchback for the Patriots…

As you can see, there is a brief moment in which the ball is knocked out of Seferian-Jenkins’s hand. That is not in dispute. What is ridiculous is how this rule is used. The rule, according to the word as printed, is probably fairly executed here, but this rule was not meant to overturn such an obvious maintaining of possession of a fumble like this. While Seferian-Jenkins did have the ball knocked out of his hands for a very brief moment, there is nobody in the world who would successfully argue that he lost possession of the football if they use an ounce of common sense.

Expect this tule to be discussed at length on the sports talk show circuit today, especially because of the two teams involved in the bizarre moment. And this is not a conspiracy to help the Patriots win a game. This is just over-officiating. It’s time to allow for instant replay to implement common sense if such a thing exists in the NFL’s replay system.

The day that changed the NFC Playoff picture

There were a couple of key developments in the NFC on Sunday. The most notable development, of course, was the injury to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was knocked out of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings with a broken collarbone, and his status for the remainder of the regular season is now in doubt.

The Packers went on to lose the game to the Vikings, 23-10, to fall to 4-2. Now, all of a sudden, the Packers seemingly take a hard fall back in the NFC. Without Rodgers, the chances this team manages to survive the rest of the season with a playoff-ready team remains unlikely.

The Packers host the New Orleans Saints next week and the point-spread has already flipped 10 points to favor the Saints by 3.5. And Green Bay still has to play the Vikings again, as well as the Detroit Lions (twice) and on the road against the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Packers can get to the postseason, it will take a tremendous effort with Brett Hundley at QB, and then the question can turn to a possible return for Rodgers. But for now, Green Bay’s status as a leading NFC contender just took a major blow until proven otherwise.

The other development that was notable in the NFC was the Atlanta Falcons being blanked in the second half and allowing the Miami Dolphins to walk out of Atlanta with a 20-17 victory. It was the second straight loss for the Falcons in their brand new stadium, and this one came after a bye week. The Falcons fell to 3-2 with the loss and now hit the road for three straight games, and four of their next five. That begins next week with the Super Bowl rematch with the New England Patriots and includes road trips to Carolina and Seattle with a home game against the Dallas Cowboys.

This is a potentially dangerous stretch for the Falcons that could have a drastic effect on the rest of their season and playoff goals for better or worse. The Falcons currently sit in third place in the NFC South, tied with the New Orleans Saints and behind the Carolina Panthers by half a game.

The top team in the NFC right now is the Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Thursday night matchup in Carolina to move to 5-1 with a comfortable lead in the NFC East. We still have a long way to go, of course, but things may have just gotten dicier for the Packers and Falcons.

Hey, the Chiefs lost!

This turned out to be a pretty important touchdown for the Steelers.

There are no more undefeated teams in the National Football League. The previously undefeated Chiefs were taken down at home by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 19-13.

Le’Veon Bell went off for 179 yards and a touchdown and Antonio Brown had eight receptions for 155 yards and a score. One of Brown’s catches also caused Tony Romo to go nuts in the broadcast booth. To be fair, Brown made a spectacular play at a pivotal moment late in the game.

Romo shouldn’t be ashamed of his joyous enthusiasm for a great play. After all, even The Rock was handing out props to Brown on Twitter.

The Steelers own sole possession of first place in the AFC North now at 4-2 after the Baltimore Ravens took a loss at home. Pittsburgh is also 3-1 on the road this season. The Chiefs are still in first place in the AFC West after the Broncos failed to make up any ground at home Sunday night.

Hey, the Giants won!

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The New York Giants took their winless season on the road for a game against the Denver Broncos without Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall, which didn’t feel like the best spot for a struggling 0-5 team. Fortunately for the Giants, head coach Ben McAdoo decided to hand off the playcalling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan.

That move seems to have played off well, but it was the Giants defense that took the spotlight on Sunday night. The Giants knocked out Broncos starting quarterback Trevor Siemian and Denver had three turnovers on the night, including one for a pick-six by Janoris Jenkins to put the Giants up 17-3 late in the first half.

With the Giants picking up the win, that leaves just two teams still in search of their first win of the season.

The Race For No. 1

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The Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers once again came up on the wrong side of the scoreboard on Sunday.

The 49ers went on the road and returned home with a 26-24 loss against the Washington Redskins. It was the fifth straight loss by three points or fewer, which suggests the 49ers are not at all far away from picking up a win or two moving forward (although their next two games, vs. Dallas and at Philadelphia, will not be easy). Things have gotten so rough for the 49ers that they are now handing the offense off to rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard out of Iowa. Make no mistake about it. Beathard may have made some people think the 49ers can get a spark with him, but the long-term solution at quarterback remains in the NFL Draft in 2018 and the 49ers need to nail that pick in a big way.

Speaking of a team that needs to nail its next quarterback pick, the Browns went up against the Houston Texans and the quarterback they passed on in this year’s draft, Deshaun Watson. Watson passed for 225 yards and three touchdowns in the 33-17 win to show the Browns what they missed out on. Cleveland countered with Kevin Hogan, who was picked off three times and had a QBR of just 8.6, according to ESPN.

Meanwhile, Browns head coach Hue Jackson is standing by his thought that the Browns’ second-round QB pick, DeShone Kizer, will benefit by some time on the bench after a rough start to the season.

The NFL Blitz

Saints 52, Lions 38: Matthew Stafford was picked off three times, two of which were returned for a touchdown, and he fumbled twice to lead to another New Orleans touchdown. The Saints opened up a 45-10 lead before the Lions started to find the holes in the New Orleans defense. Drew Brees had two touchdowns and two interceptions, and Mark Ingram carried the football 25 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

Bears 27, Ravens 24 (OT): It has become perfectly clear that the Ravens are just an average team this season. Joe Flacco completed just 24 of his 41 pass attempts for 180 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, although he did help lead a fourth-quarter rally to force overtime. But that pretty much sums it up for the Ravens right there. Having to rally to force overtime at home against the Bears? And then lose in overtime? Mitch Trubisky made his first career road start for the Bears and he completed eight of 16 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. But Tarik Cohen had the most notable pass of the day.

Cardinals 38, Buccaneers 33: Welcome to Arizona, Adrian Peterson. After being acquired by the Cardinals this past week in a trade with the Saints, Peterson wasted no time providing a spark in the Cardinals offense. Peterson rushed for a game-high 134 yards and two scores, including a 27-yard touchdown run just minutes into the game. To put that in perspective, Peterson had 27 rushing attempts for 81 yards without a score in his previous stint with the Saints.

As for the Bucs, quarterback Jameis Winston was taken out with a right shoulder injury in the second quarter, but Winston is already saying he’ll be back next week.

Rams 27, Jaguars 17: Once again, I just cannot figure out the Jaguars. The Rams scored twice on special teams. Pharoh Cooper returned the game’s opening kickoff 103 yards for a quick score, and that was quickly followed by a 75-yard touchdown run by Leonard Fournette 11 seconds later. One official play into the game and the score was tied at 7-7.

Malcolm Brown had a short return off a blocked punt to push the Rams to a 24-14 lead on the road in the second quarter, and the defense took it from there in the second half. Jared Goff had just 11-of-21 for 124 yards and a score and Blake Bortles passed for 241 yards and a touchdown with an interception. Fournette ended his afternoon with 130 rushing yards, while Los Angeles’ Todd Gurley rushed for 116 yards. The Rams managed to win by double digits despite just 249 yards of total offense.

Chargers 17, Raiders 16: That other team in Los Angeles won as well, with a 17-16 win against the NFL team that is still the most liked in Los Angeles. Nick Novak hit a game-winning field goal as time expires to lift the Chargers to a win in Oakland. This was the fourth straight loss for the Raiders. Derek Carr did return to the field this week, but the Raiders have some work to do on a short week if they are to turn things around. Kansas City is visiting Thursday night.

All your rowdy friends are coming over tonight!

Get ready for an AFC South showdown between two 2-3 teams playing without their franchise quarterbacks as the Indianapolis Colts travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans! Marcus Mariota of the Titans is questionable due to his lingering hamstring. The Colts continue to be without Andrew Luck in the lineup as well due to his shoulder injury. That sets the stage for a Jacoby Brissett (Colts) vs. Matt Cassel (Titans) quarterback showdown.

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.

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