If the referee lockout ends and the regular officials return, the Green Bay Packers should have no problem winning in the NFL.
What? Those were the regular officials? Does being a Packer warrant waging an uphill battle?
Michael Wilbon of ESPN's PTI—a lifelong Chicago Bears fan—suggested the franchise suffers for lack of a single voice to get in the NFL's collective ear because it is a community-owned team.
As a shareholder, I am perfectly willing to be that voice. Of course, even though I cannot profit a single penny from my stock (its value does not increase even for inflation), I cannot speak the truth about the refereeing without being hit with a fine worth more than anything I own.
Hopefully, this is a one-week anti-Packer glitch. If that's the case, then it will have worked like high-altitude training, conditioning the Pack to win in the high-pressure environment of the NFL playoffs.
In case you are new to this world and did not hear that the Seattle Seahawks benefited from what the league acknowledged was an incorrect personal-foul penalty on the first play of their drive, negating an interception. They also had a pass interference that was overlooked that led to their game-winning score.
What the league will not admit is the refs also flagged the Packers for a pass interference on another pass that should have been called on the offense. But that tells only half the story.
The touchdown that never should have been was actually an interception, as called by the overruled official. It is not a "simultaneous catch" when one guy gets it first and pins the ball against his chest, while the second player is reaching around the first player to get his hands on the ball.
Common sense. If ever there was a time to send out a memo that referees needed to be sure a team does not get jobbed, it was last week. Green Bay was even hosting the New Orleans Saints, who had four players that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tried hitting with stiff suspensions this season.
Yet the visitors got all the calls. Their first touchdown came thanks to another uncalled offensive pass interference, a clearly incomplete pass even survived a challenge and a fumble was incorrectly ruled down by contact.
And those were just the most grievous ones. If Green Bay had lost this game, the officials might not have made it out of town alive.
Give Green Bay credit for rising to the occasion. Here is a look at how much each unit contributed:
MJ Kasprzak is a stockholder of the Green Bay Packers and the original Bleacher Report community leader for the Pack and San Jose Sharks. You can see more of MJ's work as San Jose Sharks and SF Christian Examiner.
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