I know what you are going to say. Here goes Matt Dery again ragging on the best sport out there. Yep. Here I go again.

The NFL needs fixing. The officiating all season has been downright embarrassing and that movie was replayed Sunday in Green Bay. Call after call by the guys in the zebra shirts were wrong, and it made for a sloppy product and a very long football game. Lions coach Jim Schwartz had every right to be upset, especially on the botched Titus Young TD decision by the officials. Due to the fact that Schwartz already used both of his challenges, he could not dispute the play and go to instant replay. That is a joke. College football does it right, with every possible scoring play being reviewed, including ones called "no good" by the officials. The NFL does not do that, although the arrogant suits in the league office will tell you they do. No they do not. As Schwartz said after the game, all year long the referees signal touchdown first and then they can review it. Not Sunday. I guess week 17 had new rules. Officiating aside, the Lions defense got toasted and did not deserve to win that game anyways, but it was still frustrating and an obvious stain on the afternoon.

The NFL claims they love this "balance" between teams. I'm not buying it. This is parity and it smells. Green Bay and New Orleans are big time teams and powerhouses, but the rest could be thrown in a hat and mixed around and you wouldn't really know the difference. It makes for some really lousy viewing as a fan in my opinion and I would rather see good football. Yesterday's display by the AFC West "champions" is what is wrong with the game. Denver is terrible. They have no business hosting a playoff game, but they are. They finished
8-8 and start a quarterback who is incapable of completing what they call a "forward pass", yet, they are entertaining Pittsburgh on Sunday. 12-4 Pittsburgh by the way. The teams they just barely edged out for the AFC West crown both finished 8-8 and to be honest, Oakland and San Diego, would be lucky to go 5-11 in the NFL I grew up watching. Those two teams are awful. The NFC East is not much better. The supposed "Best Division in Football" is a comedy show.
The champion Giants finished with a minus 6 point differential and is filled with holes. Mike Valenti has said it all year, they are not a good football team, but guess what? They get to host a playoff game too! Flawed sport.

I do have one solution for improving the game. It is time to contract a couple of teams and improve the quality of play. Tampa Bay and Jacksonville are both franchises that nobody really cares about, so why not just eliminate them? The Bucs quit on the season anyways.
Goodbye. See ya. I think this would be a good first step. I also believe the instant replay rules need to be changed and the kickoff rule for 2011 abolished. I've seen millions of touchbacks this season, it is time to move the kickoffs back to the 30 yard line and allow the fans to have some action.