As expected, the NFL’s replacement officials have been a popular topic of discussion throughout the preseason. Just as replacement players who are filling in for holdouts do, the guys in the stripes have experienced some rough moments over the past couple of weeks. A few of those moments came during the Niners-Texans game on Saturday night.
There were several calls during the game that infuriated San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh, including the officials’ decision to let the time run out at the end of the first half despite a defensive penalty being called against Houston that the Niners accepted. After the game, Harbaugh did something the NFL has ordered teams to not do — he blasted the replacement officiating crew.
“Big interference call in third quarter was some big yardage on that drive,” Harbaugh said according to CSNBayArea.com. “I don’t know. It’s interesting. I don’t have the pulse on this game. What was it exactly? Us? Them? Some crazy, wild calls. Were they accurate? Weren’t they? We’ll see. I have a headache (from yelling), though. I have a darned headache. A lot them didn’t seem like they were in the ballpark.”
Harbaugh ripped the officials after previously stating that he would not be commenting on that officiating “per instructions” from the league. Obviously he was angry enough about it that he simply couldn’t resist.
With the NFL and NFL Referees Association reportedly not making any progress toward a new deal, you can expect this situation to get even uglier as the regular season draws nearer. If coaches and players are already upset over the officiating when the games don’t matter, just imagine the reaction we’re going to see come Week 1.
