Monday night’s showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers was a defensive gridlock, but the final score was dictated by the officials’ divisive decision to grant the Seahawks the 14-12 victory at CentruyLink Field.

Green Bay was able to drive down the field in the 4th quarter starting at their own 19, and Cedric Benson punched in a score from the one yard line to go up 12-7. They did not convert the two point conversion. On that drive, on 3rd and 2 from Seattle’s 47 yard line the officials called a pass interference on Kam Chancellor against Jermichael Finely, which extended the Packers drive, and did not seem to be a penalty.

The Packers were able to maintain the Seahawks on the ensuing drive. Green Bay regained possession after a failed 4th and 3rd conversion on Green Bay’s seven yard line. On the first play,  Cedric Benson was pushed backwards, and fumbled the ball. Packers center Jeff Saturday recovered the ball. Green Bay was only able to kill 57 seconds and punted the ball back to Seattle around midfield.

Russell Wilson drove the Seahawks to Green Bay’s 24 yard line. On 4th and 10, Wilson chucked the ball in the end-zone to Golden Tate, but cornerback M.D Jennings seemed to have intercepted the ball and had possession. However, the official ran over and called it a touchdown. The play was reviewed and stood, granting the Seahawks the victory. Beyond frustrated, the Packers left the field. However, 11 players needed to come back on the field to line up for the extra point conversion.

This catch has spurred a vast amount of controversy, especially because it was the obvious wrong call and the replacement officials are dictating the results of key games. According to the NFL rule book, Rule 8, Section 1, Article 3, Item 5: Simultaneous Catch states:

“ If a pass is caught simultaneously by two eligible opponents, and both players retain it, the ball belongs to the passers. It is not a simultaneous catch if a player gains control first and an opponent subsequently gains joint control.”

While looking at the review, its is clear that Jennings had possession of the ball and brought the ball to his chest, while Tate only had one hand on it. Furthermore before Tate made a play on the ball he blatantly pushed Sam Shields down to the ground, another missed call.

Several NFL, and sports analysts tweeted there reactions regarding the call. Steven A. Smith tweeted, “If the NFL wants to maintain any credibility whatsoever, it should OVERTURN this decision IMMEDIATELY. This game should be awarded to GB.” Prior to that Smith tweeted on the officiating saying, “That’s it! I’m done. CLEARLY AN INTERCEPTION. The NFL should be ashamed of itself for allowing this officiating to regress to this point.”

This has been the most controversial call of the season, and brings up the question, when will the NFL reach into their pockets and bring back the real officials?

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The San Francisco 49ers started their preseason on a positive note after taking down the Minnesota Vikings 17-6.

49ers starting quarterback, Alex Smith, completed 3-of-3 passes for 16 yards and one touchdown pass in one series of play. Smith connected with fouth year wide receiver Brett Swain for a 4-yard touchdown pass towards the end of the first quarter. Michael Crabtree only caught one pass for three yards.

The Niners are trying to upgrade their pass game this season after finishing 29th in total passing yards last year. With the addition of veteran, Randy Moss, and Super Bowl XLVI standout, Mario Manningham, the Niners boast a revamped receiving corps for the 2012-13 campaign.  

On Friday night, most of the 49ers’ offense came from their strong running game, not to mention that starting running back Frank Gore did not play. Anthony Dixon had 12 carries for 46 yards, Rock Cartwright had 8 carries for 44 yards, and newly acquired Brandon Jacobs had four carries for 31 yards, including a breakout 23-yard run. Back-up quarterback Colin Kaepernick outran everybody and tallied up 92 yards on the ground, including a 78-yard quarterback keeper for the 49ers’ second touchdown. San Fran out ran the Vikings, 260 to 82.

The Niners have serious running back depth, especially with the addition of Brandon Jacobs to help in short down situations, but also by drafting rookie LaMichael James. Both Jacobs and James, along with Kendall Hunter, will be competing for 2nd string running back this offseason.

The Minnesota Vikings have some evident offensive issues that they should be concerned about, especially after tallying up only 208 total yards against the Niners. Quarterback Christian Ponder completed 4-of-9 passes for 80 yards in his first game of the year. Ponder, a second year starter, still has a lot to prove if he is going to continue to be a starter in Minnesota. Ponder was towards the bottom of the list for quarterbacks when it came to yards, touchdowns, quarterback rating, and competition percentage.

The Vikings offensive woes do not end there, they are also without star running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson suffered a gruesome knee injury towards the end of last season and is still not 100% better. Peterson has been practicing with the starters and is hoping to play towards the end of preseason. If Peterson is not ready, Toby Gerhart would most likely start. Gerhart carried the ball 5 times for 31 yards in Friday’s game against the Niners.

Ponder and the Vikings will be back in action Friday, August 17 against the Buffalo Bills. As for the Niners and their prolific run game, they will be back in action Saturday, August 18 against the Houston Texans.

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The Green Bay Packers traveled to the West Coast for their first preseason game of the year against the San Diego Chargers. Both teams were off to a sloppy preseason start, combining for 5 turnovers in the first quarter, however the Chargers seemed to have a bit more in them to hold off the Packers 21-13.

The Packers are coming off their best regular season year in franchise history, finishing with a record of 15-1. Unfortunately for Green Bay, their postseason ended early after defeat by Super Bowl Champions, New York Giants. Offensively the Packers were elite, averaging 35 points per game, the best in the NFL, 3rd in total offense, averaging 405.1 yards per game, and 3rd in passing yards per game, averaging 307.8.

Most of Green Bay’s offensive greatness was due to their leader under center, NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers finished last season with a passer rating of 122.5, threw for 4,643 yards, 45 touchdowns, and a completion percentage of 68.3. Rodgers was a threat in and out of the pocket and continued to keep defenses guessing throughout the season.

Although the Packers pass game was top-notch, their run game was below mediocre. The Packers were ranked 27th in the NFL, averaging only 97.4 rush yards per game. The departure of Ryan Grant does not help the situation this upcoming season either, with the burden falling on James Starks and Alex Green to battle it out to see who will be the number one guy. With injury concerns surrounding both backs, the biggest question offensively is, can the Packers find someone to solidify the running back position consistently for 16 weeks and help them become less predictable?

Defensively Green Bay struggled all season and were last in the NFL in yard allowed per game, 411.6. Although they lead the NFL with 31 interceptions, they still allowed offense after offense to march down the field consistently. In their attempt to improve defensively, the Packers brought in some young talent via draft, USC defensive end/outside linebacker Nick Perry, and Michigan State defensive tackle, Jerel Worthy, were their first two picks. Both rookies are expected to have some type of impact in terms of applying pressure to opposing quarterbacks.

As for the San Diego Chargers, they finished last season with an 8-8 record, missing the playoffs for the 2nd straight year. Philip Rivers is coming off his 4th consecutive 4,000+ yard season, as well as his 4th consecutive 25+ touchdown season. However, Rivers’ biggest  flaw last season was his turnovers. Rivers threw a career high 20 interceptions and lost a career high 7 fumbles. Charger fans will be hoping Rivers can be a bit more patient and execute efficiently to lead the team back into the playoffs.

The Chargers’ biggest defensive flaw was their 3rd down defense. They were ranked last in the NFL, allowing opposing offenses to convert 49.2% of the time on 3rd down, and have consequently addressed this issue with free agent acquisitions and through the draft.

Rodgers only completed 2-of-8 passes for 16 yards and threw an interception in Thursday nights loss. Rodgers did not look as comfortable in the pocket last night because of the lack of protection he received from his offensive line.

As for Rivers, he completed 3-of-5 passes for 37 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. Rivers was able to connect with tight end, Antonio Gates, for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Gates has been battling an ongoing foot injury but looked in good form on the night, something the Chargers will be hoping is a positive sign going into the regular season.

The Packers continued to struggle running the ball as James Starks, the player most likely to start at running back come the beginning of the season, carried the ball five times for 16 yards and fumbled once. In addition, Alex Green and Marc Tyler did not help make a name for themselves, averaging less than three yards per carry.

The Chargers run game took a big hit after Ryan Mathews exited the game following his first carry, suffering from a broken clavicle which was reported later, leaving San Diego without Mathews for 4-6 weeks. Newly acquired Charger Ronnie Brown will likely get the nod for the starting role until Mathews return.

Green Bay rookie Perry finished the game with with three tackles and one sack, an optimistic sign for the Packers ahead of the regular season. Opposing defensive rookie Melvin Ingram finished the game with two tackles, and the pressure he exerted on Rodgers helped to force an interception.

The Packers are back in action, Thursday, August 16th against the Cleveland Browns, and will be looking for a more efficient offensive display. As for the Chargers, they will be back in action, Saturday, August 18th against the Dallas Cowboys. Luckily for both teams it was only preseason, and there is still plenty of time to assemble good chemistry as well as better execution on the field.

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The Baltimore Ravens got their preseason off to a successful start Thursday night when they recorded a 31-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome. Very little can be taken from preseason games in terms of judging how well a side will perform in the regular season, none more so than at the Georgia Dome where both sides fielded the majority of their starters for just one quarter.

These games do, however, provide the perfect stage for untested rookies and players lower down on the depth chart to prove their worth and stake a claim making the final 53-man roster. Following a summer of significant roster upheaval in Baltimore, this is one of the most hotly anticipated preseasons in recent memory for the Ravens. Duels for depth chart superiority are abound for Baltimore with halfback, wide receiver and outside linebacker positions coming under extra scrutiny, whilst there are still starters places up for grabs in the offensive line.

The role of Ray Rice’s backup was initially thought to be contested between third-round draft pick Bernard Pierce and second-year players Anthony Allen and Damien Berry, but the emergence of undrafted rookie Bobby Rainey in the Raven’s training camp has thrown in a fourth contender.

Rainey was undoubtedly the star of the game for Baltimore, running elusively between the tackles, showing good acceleration to get outside of the defense and demonstrating his ability as a receiver when he collected a screen pass and displayed good agility to elude the Falcons’ defense on the way to scoring a touchdown. You could be forgiven for thinking you were actually watching Rice, such are the physical and playing similarities between Rainey and the current starting running back, a factor which could work against him should the Ravens want a contrasting back to supplement Rice.

With both Courtney Upshaw and Pierce absent due to recent injuries, it was likely that focus would fall on free agent acquisitions for Baltimore, rather than rookies, but a number of lower round picks stood up to be counted.

The fifth-round draft pick Asa Jackson looked good on special teams as well as nearly recording a sack early in the game, whilst safety Christian Thompson was reliable in the secondary and put in a thunderous hit late in the game. This is clearly a sign that training alongside Bernard Pollard is paying off for the youngster.

Wide receivers Deonte Thompson and LaQuan Williams both had good games, with Thompson in particular making a couple of clutch catches as both players compete for the fourth wide receiver spot on the depth chart.

The offensive line appeared solid, with the veterans acquitting themselves well, if not spectacularly, and Bryant McKinnie played, contrary to suggestions, in a bid to prove his fitness following a late arrival at training camp due to a back injury. Rookies Kelechi Osemele and Gino Gradkowski both looked good during their snaps, but they will have to maintain that form throughout the preseason if they are to challenge for a starters spot, although a place on the final 53-man roster seems a certainty at the moment.

It is difficult to criticize any of the current starters, despite being outplayed early on by the Falcons. They were only allowed a single quarter to showcase their talents, but a substandard performance from Cary Williams may well have alerted John Harbaugh. Playing against a wide receiver duo of Roddy White and Julio Jones is never easy, but Williams seemed outmatched, possibly opening the door for Jimmy Smith to partner Lardarius Webb.

Other notable performances included two fumble recoveries and an interception by rookie corner Omar Brown, while quarterback Curtis Painter may have helped establish himself as the backup quarterback after he outperformed Tyrod Taylor with a fairly composed and effective outing.

It is certainly in the early days for Baltimore, and the game against the Falcons probably raised more questions than answers in terms of the depth chart, but it was a good performance from the young rookies, especially the undrafted pair of Rainey and D Thompson. All eyes will now turn to their next preseason game at home against the Detriot Lions, where highly rated rookies Upshaw and Pierce should make their bow at the M&T Bank Stadium alongside the likes of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

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