The Post Mortem

Congratulations to the NFL for picking a pair of teams who could light up the scoreboard. But why did they pick an officiating crew that wanted to make their own mark on the game. The NFL officials called nearly 20 penalties, not the kind of showmanship that you want to highlight while trying to brand your sport worldwide.

Mr. Goodell and company do know that soccer hooligans have been known to rough up officials right? They are lucky that the English fans didn't have a better understanding of the game, or maybe they would have been crucified for it.

Though, give the English fans some credit for jeering the officials after a Saints receiver performed a perfect, soccer-style of celebration of scoring. (Though, it's hard to recall if Vincent Jackson was flagged for the same thing.)

If the Brits weren't dumbfounded by a sport where the team scored multiple times, then they must have really wondered what was going on when Drew Brees took a safety. Although most fans at Wembley would like say that the Saints and Chargers defenses should be subjected to relegation. Brees and Philip Rivers combined for 81 pass attempts -- with no sacks to either guy.

The Saints were able to keep up with the Panthers who defeated the Cardinals, while the Chargers will fly 13 hours thankful that the Broncos can't stop anybody, either. Seriously, a 7-9 mark is going to win the AFC West. This is the year.

• The Cardinals should be saying that Sunday's game was the kind they normally do. But, they did lose it in Cardinals fashion. A fumble, a bounce off a receiver's hand and a failed fake field goal doomed the Birds. Oh, and they missed an extra point, too. The Kurt Warner Machine is having a season for the ages and this franchise is destined to make him blow it.

• Anquan Boldin is one tough S.O.B. Hard to believe this is the first time that he has ever worn a mouth piece. Manny Ramirez wears a mouth piece, for crying out loud. And the dude didn't even take pain pills after having surgery.

• The Mike Singletary era is off to a swinging start. The good news is that Samurai Mike will do enough to keep his job for another year. Especially since the 49ers will want to take a run at Mike Holmgren. Still, Singletary showed some huevos rancheros by benching starters J.T. O'Sullivan and Josh Morgan while sending Vernon Davis to the locker room. And the post-game press conference was even better. Coors Light can't wait to get their hands on that tape.

• The Dallas Cowboys celebrated like they won the Super Bowl on Sunday. And why not? That might be the closest they get to actually win the Super Bowl. Hell, maybe even making the playoffs. What happened to Terrell Owens? The guy has disappeared in front of our eyes. T.O. had 33 yards on Sunday, marking the 11th consecutive game in which he has failed to reach 100 receiving yards. No wonder they felt compelled to get Roy Williams.

• Jason Campbell might not be the flashiest quarterback out there, but you have to admire a guy who doesn't turn the ball over. And O'Sullivan, take heart, Campbell couldn't hold on to the ball last year, either. There is hope.

• How many fantasy football points were wasted on Leonard Weaver on Sunday? He had to have close to 25 points in most basic-scoring formats. Does T.O. even have 25 points on the season?

• Brett Favre threw three interceptions for the first time since a 17-9 Packers win over the Lions on Dec. 17, 2006. Favre had two-plus interceptions for the third consecutive game and fourth time in last five games. This is the first time Favre's had at least two interceptions in three consecutive games since 2005. But wait, does it seem possible that Favre hasn't had a three-interception game since 2006? That's goofy.
  

• Congratulations to Penn State for reaching the BCS title game. This is going to end well. The Big Ten is the lone holdout for the Plus 0ne system (a friend says that the Pac-10 could be talked into it). And why shouldn't they be? Their teams get to escape to the title game because their conference stinks. Utah would have a better chance against the SEC. But give them credit for not losing a horrible game like USC does every year.

• Nice high school field, Arizona. Why is it, every time you see a night game from Tucson, it looks worse than the average high school game they show on FOX Sports West?

AND FINALLY
Does there seem to be an excessive number of unnecessary roughness penalties called on offensive players lately? Maybe the league is paying special attention to them because of Hines Ward. But here's the deal, why don't you just go ahead and put a skirt on the defense, then? Any defensive player who allows his coach to take an unnecessary roughness penalty isn't a man at all, and likely sits down to urinate.