After what was generally regarded as a good performance during Week 1 of the NFL season, many were wondering just how big of an impact the replacement officials would really have on the games being played, and in Week 2 we got the answer – too much.
While the Broncos and Falcons duked it out on Monday night, the clear story of the game was the mistakes being made time and time again by the officiating crew. After a weekend in which the officials were openly being questioned about their ability to handle the game, Monday Night’s game demonstrated just how much the NFL needs to get their regular officials back to work.
In a first quarter that lasted over an hour in real time, the Broncos and Falcons got involved in a bit of a scrum following a Knowshon Moreno fumble. During the ensuing aftermath, players from both teams left their bench to get involved, punches were thrown and one referee was grabbed and pulled away from the pile-up by Broncos center JD Walton. After more than six minutes of this, only one player, Falcons’ DE Ray Edwards, was penalized.
As for the fumble itself, it’s pretty clear during the
