Things are starting to get serious.
Instant replay proved once again it cannot avoid controversy.
The Cincinnati Bengals have tied the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the top of the league at 4-0, and the Washington Redskins are 3-0.
The Miami Dolphins moved into first place in the AFC East without playing, and coach Nick Saban isn’t one bit happy about it.
Like the Bears in the user-friendly NFC North, the Dolphins, Bucs and Redskins are last-place finishers from last season who have risen to the top of their divisions. The Bucs are 3-0 against the NFC North and wish they were still members.
“I tell you, this is a crazy league,” Bucs coach Jon Gruden said Monday. “There’s an analyst on every corner who can figure it out. If you can control turnovers and have success on third down, you have a chance to win in pro football.”
But sometimes you can’t win even when the officials say you do.
Gruden’s Bucs beat the Detroit Lions 17-13 only after referee Gerry Austin looked at replay and overruled fellow officials on the field who signaled a last-minute touchdown catch by tight end Marcus Pollard.
On Monday, the Lions argued that the visual evidence did not meet the “indisputable” criteria necessary to overturn a ruling on the field. Replay has become an accepted part of officiating, but the notion that it rights obvious wrongs remains flawed.
Lions coach Steve Mariucci had two long conversations Monday with Mike Pereira, NFL director of officials.
“We agreed to disagree,” Mariucci said. “In my mind, it is a catch. It is water over the dam, but I thought Marcus had possession with his hands before he slid out of bounds. There was no ruling of a bobble, and I thought he clearly had control of it with his hands before he tucked it away and slid out of bounds. Their view may be a little bit different. But you can go around and around until the cows come home and it’s not going to change anything.”
The decision against the Lions recalled a 1989 Bears loss in Green Bay when replay overruled officials who called Don Majkowski’s winning touchdown pass illegal only to admit later–too late–that the officials on the field were correct.
More Top Picks Mop Refill
Referee Austin also was involved in a 1999 reversal that kept alive a winning drive by the Dolphins against Indianapolis. In that one, Austin said a fumble by Dan Marino was really an incompletion.
An apparent incomplete pass Sunday by Houston’s David Carr was ruled a fumble in the Texans’ six-point loss to Cincinnati.
Saban hot
Saban’s Dolphins had their week off, but Saban had his usual dour game face in place Monday after losses by all three AFC East rivals left the idle 2-1 Dolphins in first.
“What happens to everybody else has nothing to do with us, understand?” Saban said, banging on his lectern for emphasis. “What we can control, we can control.
“All I hear is, `This team lost, that team lost, this happened to this guy, this happened to that guy,'” Saban said. “So what? We’ve got to play to win our games. None of that other stuff matters. It’s clutter and poison and lethal in terms of attitude development and thinking about the right things to get ready to play a game.”
Saban told his players Monday not to pay attention to other teams’ records.
“He shouldn’t even have to say that, it’s so early in the season,” said safety Tebucky Jones, who spent five years with the Patriots. “They lost? Whatever. It’s early. I was there when we were 1-3 [in 2001] and won the Super Bowl. You can’t go by that.”
Chief disturbance
In Kansas City, Chiefs players sounded more angry over blowing their 18-point lead against Philadelphia in a 37-31 loss than coach Dick Vermeil did. Vermeil chose to praise the Eagles and their quarterback, Donovan McNabb.
But Chiefs quarterback Trent Green and tight end Tony Gonzalez were more upset over failures by their own offense.
Green refused to elaborate on an interception returned for a touchdown by Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown that let the Eagles get out of an early 17-0 hole. Green gestured on the sideline and later told a Kansas City Star reporter he didn’t want to “open a can of worms.”
Apparently, Green is not allowed to audible out of bad plays.
Gonzalez, who led the league with 100 catches last year, caught only two passes for 5 yards and said: “I didn’t go downfield at all. It’s frustrating. I haven’t even sniffed the end zone this year. The Eagles didn’t do anything special to stop me. I just didn’t get the opportunity. I need to get the ball to help this team win.”
The Chiefs had to leave Gonzalez in to block more often than usual because they are playing without Pro Bowl left tackle Willie Roaf, who is nursing a hamstring injury.
Cadillac slowed
Tampa Bay running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams may be limited in practice this week because of a sore hamstring and sprained foot. Gruden, who scoffed at the idea of overworking the rookie in his record-breaking first three games, acknowledged being “a little concerned.”
Williams, who had averaged 29 carries in his first three games while gaining an NFL-leading 434 yards, was held to 13 yards on 11 carries by the Lions and sat out the fourth quarter. Gruden stressed Monday it was too early to say if Williams will play against the Jets.
Vick cleared
Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick is expected to start against New England this week after an MRI confirmed Monday that he did not seriously injure his right knee Sunday in Atlanta’s victory over Minnesota.
“It was just a mild sprain of his MCL, and he is day-to-day,” coach Jim Mora said. “That ought to put that to rest for at least two or three minutes until someone asks another question about it.”
Vick was injured when Minnesota defensive end Erasmus James knocked him to the ground and fell on his leg in the second quarter of Atlanta’s 30-10 win.
Matt Schaub replaced Vick and played the rest of the game. James was later flagged for an out-of-bounds hit on Atlanta’s Warrick Dunn.
Rogers gone
The Lions are expected to get bad news when receiver Charles Rogers is suspended for four games for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, ESPN reported Monday night.
Rogers has caught only five passes for 77 yards this season, and against Tampa he wasn’t thrown a pass until the fourth quarter.
More Top Picks Best Space Heaters For Garage
———-