By Monday afternoon, the N.F.L. had been in 10 days of intensive negotiations with the union for its game officials. It was clear by last weekend that the officials’ traditional pension plan — a critical element of the talks — would eventually be frozen, with only the details of its remaining longevity to be settled. That left the issue of whether the league would be allowed to hire full-time officials, as well as other officials who would be available to replace underperforming ones.
After almost three full weeks of games officiated by inexperienced replacements, and the scorn that followed, the two sides were finally moving toward completion of a deal to return the regular officials to the field. The question, though, was when.
With Commissioner Roger Goodell deeply involved in the talks for at least a month, some of those involved in the negotiations said they thought an agreement would probably have been reached this week no matter what circumstances existed.
But others said they thought the negotiations were moving too slowly. And then the Seattle Seahawks won a game on national television they should not have, the catalyst that accelerated the talks until a deal was completed Wednesday night.
If you live in Seattle right now, you’ve most likely heard about the Seattle Seahawks’ Monday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers.
For those that didn’t, the NFL’s experiment with replacement officials ended with the Packers versus Seahawks game’s 24-yard last play pass that was ruled a touchdown. The ruling caused the Seahawks to win 14-12 over the Green Bay Packers. The debate has continued as the whether the play was an interception or touchdown, but it was the final push for the NFL to come to an agreement to get the original referees back on the field.
The new deal to bring the original referees back, and end the lockout that had been in effect since June, came almost exactly 48 hours after the controversial call.
“The eight-year deal, which must be ratified by union members, includes details about officials’ pensions and retirement benefits, and adds a pay bump from $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013. The pay will rise to $205,000 by 2019,” according to a cnn-com post.
This agreement also lets the NFL to hire some officials on a year-round basis, and others so they can be properly trained before they step onto the field.
Unlike most of the replacement referees, most of who had officiated only a few professional games in their entire career.
Yesterday, for the Baltimore Ravens versus Cleveland Browns game, the league picked a veteran crew 0f referees to officiate the game with a combined 70 seasons of NFL experience.
Before the game, fans stood and applauded the officials as the seven referees tipped their caps to the fans.
The end of Thursday’s game was set up almost eerily familiar to Monday’s controversial play.
Read More: NFL referee strike ends; first game back runs smoothly | Spectator Blog
They were in the NFL for 7 weeks, ejected from the game, but now some replacement referees could be a officiating a football game near you.
You might be surprised to hear that some NFL replacement referees have local ties to Central Texas.
When the NFL hit a brick wall during contract negotiations with their regular referees, they called on guys like Larry Weeks.
Larry, a longtime football referee, is the current president of the Waco Football Association for sports officials. He was asked by the NFL for referee reinforcements when negotiations with their regular referees went sour.
"I got a call from an NFL scout that I have known for a long time, and he was wanting to know if we had anybody in the local chapter here that could help him out," Weeks said.
Larry then recommended 5 of his best local officials. But he never knew, they would be chosen as "The Replacements" for the NFL referees.
"They took a whole crop of referees down to Dallas and Atlanta to have clinics," Weeks said.
"All 5 of our guys here locally survived the cuts and stayed until the end."
It didn't hurt that the local Waco Chapter for sports officials had a sterling reputation for officiating.
According to Larry, those 5 referees have officiated just about everything. From High School Varsity, to Division II and Division III Junior College.
But Larry says, it was nothing that could compare to the NFL.
Read More: NFL Replacement Referees to Officiate Local Games
If The Associated Press named a most valuable player of the first quarter of the season, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan would be the likely selection. He is leading an offense that has been as good as any in the N.F.L. The Falcons lead the N.F.C. in points scored and have the conference’s best record (4-0) despite a less than stellar defense, thanks in large part to Ryan’s league-leading 112.1 passer rating. He has thrown 11 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions; no other quarterback has a positive differential of more than six in contrasting those categories. Ryan is averaging 7.9 yards per attempt as part of a ruthlessly efficient Atlanta offense.
On Sunday, the Falcons trailed, 28-27, with the ball at their 1-yard line and only 59 seconds remaining. On the first play, Ryan faked a handoff and threw a deep pass along the left sideline to Roddy White for 59 yards. A few plays later, Matt Bryant kicked the game-winning 40-yard field goal. According to Scott Kacsmar, a statistician who goes by Captain Comeback, that was Ryan’s third game-winning drive that started with less than one minute remaining, trailing only Dan Marino and Mark Sanchez (four each) for most one-minute game-winning drives since 1981.
But don’t give Ryan all the credit: he’s playing with one of the best supporting casts in the league. Roddy White has been an elite wide receiver for years but has not received the level of national attention befitting that status. With 6,835 receiving yards, White leads the N.F.L. in that statistic since 2007. Over that span, only Wes Welker has more receptions. White also has the most receiving yards since 2008 and since 2009. With 413 receiving yards already in 2012, White looks ready to have another monster season.
Read More: At N.F.L. Quarter Pole, Matt Ryan Is Most Valuable - NYTimes-com
Some performances end up as aberrations while others signal true change. Consider these from Sunday:
Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson (25 carries, 141 yards): Sell now. Johnson gained 45 yards on 33 carries in the three previous weeks combined. Last season, he had 12 games with 64 rushing yards or fewer and four games when he topped 100 yards. His previous game of more than 100 yards was followed by a 23-yard effort.
Buffalo Bills running backs (24 carries, 84 yards): The rushing attack against the New England Patriots involved Fred Jackson (13carries, 29 yards), C.J. Spiller (eight, 33), Tashard Choice (two, 14) and Johnny White (one, 8). Both healthy, Spiller and Jackson likely will ruin what could be a situation with one primary back. The Bills also are hitting a brutal stretch of the schedule with the next five games including four road trips vs. the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Patriots. Expect lower-level games from Jackson and Spiller for the next month or more.
Minnesota Vikings WR Jerome Simpson (seven targets): He completed his suspension for violating the NFL drug policy and played his first game as a Viking. Percy Harvin received eight passes as the primary target, but Simpson was thrown to seven times and caught four for 50 yards to lead the Vikings. Expect those stats to rise for at least the next two weeks when the Vikings host the Titans and travel to play the Washington Redskins.
Chargers QB Philip Rivers (35% of completions to wide receivers in four games): Compare this to tight ends (22%) and running backs (43%). If you want to know why Rivers averages 224.2 passing yards a game, this is it. There are no decent receivers going deep or capable of breaking off long gains.
Read More: Notable stats from NFL Week 4 signal true change | St. Cloud TIMES | sctimes-com
Somewhere in a private box at the Louisiana Superdome, Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis and Joe Vitt will sit and watch Drew Brees try to set an NFL record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
Not to mention get the Saints out of their worst slide in years.
That suspended trio - coach Payton is sidelined for the season, general manager Loomis for eight games, interim coach Vitt for six for their roles in the bounties scandal - was given permission by the NFL to attend Sunday night's game against San Diego, but can't interact with Brees or the other players.
Brees tied Hall of Famer John Unitas' mark of 47 straight, set from 1956-60 by throwing for three scores in a loss at Green Bay last weekend. Then he asked Commissioner Roger Goodell about allowing the coaches and GM to attend on Sunday.
"It would mean a lot, and that's why I asked,'' Brees said. "Of course they know how this team feels about all those people and what a big part they are in our journey despite the circumstances. And the fact that we have the opportunity to break the Johnny Unitas record, and I say `we' because it is a team deal, and Joe Vitt is a part of that, Sean Payton is a part of that and Mickey Loomis is a part of that. They are all a part of that, and I felt like they certainly deserved the opportunity to be there in attendance and share that moment with us.''
While the Saints are one of two 0-4 teams, along with Cleveland, the Chargers (3-1) are on top of the AFC West. Their three wins are over Oakland, Kansas City and Tennessee, all 1-3. When they played a contender - at home - the Chargers were routed by Atlanta.
So this could be something of a proving ground for San Diego, because beating even a winless Saints squad in New Orleans never is a Big Easy. And with emotions running wild over Brees' pursuit of Unitas' record - and with Payton, Loomis and Vitt on hand - the Chargers' challenge is amplified.
Read more: Suspended bosses get to watch Brees - NFL - SI-com
Former NFL running back Larry Johnson was arrested early Friday at a Las Vegas Strip resort after an ex-girlfriend told police he choked her into unconsciousness and left her in her underwear in a hotel hallway.
Larry Alphonso Johnson Jr., 32, was being held on $15,000 bail at the Clark County jail pending an initial court appearance on a domestic violence-strangulation charge that could get him a minimum of two years in state prison if he is convicted.
Johnson was arrested about 4:30 a.m. at the Bellagio resort, according to a police report that said Johnson and the woman had been drinking alcohol before the altercation, and that the woman had marks on her face and bruises on her neck.
Johnson, who lives in North Bay Village, Fla., had marks on his face that police attributed to the woman fighting him as he choked her.
The woman, 32, from Maryland, told police that she told Johnson that he would have to squeeze harder and get it over with if he was going to kill her, the report states.
She said she awoke in the 10th floor hallway and knocked on doors until someone called hotel security.
It wasn't clear from the police report if the woman was hospitalized or received medical treatment. Officer Marcus Martin, a Las Vegas police spokesman, said he had no information about her condition.
The arresting officer said Johnson and the woman each told him about previous physical altercations, including one at another Las Vegas Strip hotel. Johnson at one point pretended to run from hotel security officers and told one security officer he would rip his vocal chords out, the police report said.
Yvette Monet, a spokeswoman for Bellagio resort owner MGM Resorts International, cited guest privacy policies and declined comment.
It wasn't immediately clear if Johnson had a lawyer.
Johnson starred for the Kansas City Chiefs after being drafted from Penn State in the first round of the 2003 NFL draft.
He was chosen All-Pro and Chiefs MVP in 2005 and 2006, and signed a contract in 2007 that guaranteed a team-record $19 million. But he was plagued by injuries and inconsistency in the years that followed.
Johnson played for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2009 and the Washington Redskins in 2010 before playing briefly for the Miami Dolphins in 2011.
Johnson served what amounted to a one-game suspension in 2009 for using an anti-gay slur, and had several scrapes with the law over the years.
He was sentenced in March 2009 to two years of probation with a chance to have his record cleared for good behavior after pleading guilty to reduced disturbing the peace charges in separate incidents involving two women at two Kansas City nightclubs.
One case involved a 26-year-old woman who accused Johnson of pushing her head at a nightspot in February 2008.
The other involved allegations by a 24-year-old woman that Johnson spat a drink at her and threatened to kill her boyfriend in October 2008.
In 2003, Johnson was charged with aggravated assault and misdemeanor battery after being accused of brandishing a gun during an argument with a former girlfriend. The charges were dropped after he completed a domestic violence diversion program.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be at full strength Sunday for the first time this season.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall, linebacker James Harrison and safety Troy Polamalu completed a full week of practice and are all listed as probable to play Sunday for the Steelers (1-2) against the Philadelphia Eagles (3-1).
Mendenhall and Harrison will make their season debuts. Polamalu will play for the first time since a season-opening loss in Denver.
Harrison had minor surgery on his left knee in August, and Polamalu has had a calf injury. Each has been named NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and they have combined to be named All Pro nine times. Their returns are welcomed on a defense that has blown fourth-quarter leads during each of the Steelers' losses.
"They're getting two excellent defensive players back, two of the best in the game, ex-defensive MVPs," Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. "They're a tough, physical football team that is quite disruptive, so we've got a great opportunity along with a great challenge."
A two-time 1,000-yard rusher, Mendenhall has recovered from tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Jan. 1. He's been practicing for more than three weeks.
Read More: NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers finally at full strength against Eagles - San Jose Mercury News
Call it coincidence or call it deja vu, but there's one thing you can't call the way Dolphins end games:
Boring.
For the third time in as many weeks, the Miami Dolphins led in the fourth quarter, only to see the opposition come storming back. On this chilly afternoon, however, there would be no collapse. Reshad Jones made sure of that.
Jones, the Dolphins' third-year safety, picked off Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton late in regulation Sunday to preserve a 17-13, nerve-fraying road victory that snapped Miami's two-game losing streak.
"I knew it was going to come down to us on the backend to make a play, and we did," Jones said in a relieved Dolphins locker room afterward. "I told me teammates (beforehand), 'We're going to keep scratching and clawing, whatever it takes to come out with a win, that's what we're going to do.'?"
Here's exactly what it took: the defense forcing three turnovers, Ryan Tannehill outdueling Dalton, and the Dolphins shutting down Cincinnati's dangerous offense twice in the game's final four minutes, including the knuckle-whitening final drive.
The Dolphins looked to have the affair wrapped up when Bengals kicker Mike Nugent botched a routine, 41-yard field goal with just over three minutes remaining.
But instead of running out the clock, Dolphins tight end Charles Clay inexplicably ran out of bounds on a critical third down. That allowed Cincinnati to take over at its own 20 with 1:45 left, needing 80 yards to hand the Dolphins a third consecutive crushing defeat - and officially derail their season.
Read more here: Dolphins hold on to late lead, defeat Cincinnati Bengals | NFL Football | ADN-com
The Houston Texans are still undefeated — but very nearly let this one slip away.
Arian Foster ran for 152 yards and a touchdown, and the Texans stayed unbeaten by defeating the New York Jets for the first time in team history, hanging on for a 23-17 victory Monday night.
With a chance to lead the Jets on a winning drive, Mark Sanchez was intercepted by Kareem Jackson on a pass that tipped off the hands of Jeff Cumberland with 1:51 remaining and the Texans (5-0) joined the Atlanta Falcons as the NFL's only teams without a loss.
The Jets (2-3) were heavy underdogs after coming off a 34-0 loss to San Francisco last week, but made a game of it. Backup quarterback Tim Tebow got the crowd fired up at times throughout the game, including running for a first down on a fake punt, but had little impact otherwise.
Houston also overcame a 100-yard kickoff return by Joe McKnight that cut the Jets' deficit to 20-14.
Matt Schaub was 14-of-28 for 209 yards and a touchdown to Owen Daniels, winning his ninth straight game — the longest active streak in the NFL — dating to last season. Daniels finished with four catches for 79 yards for the Texans, who have just their second five-game winning streak in team history.
Nick Folk's 21-yard field goal with 11:55 left made it 23-17, but the Jets appeared as though they would get more.
Sanchez hit Cumberland for 24 yards on first down, and then Jeremy Kerley for 36 yards two plays later. Then, Tebow came in and took the direct snap — with Sanchez lined up as a wide receiver — and rumbled up the middle for 13 yards to make it first-and-goal from the 3. The crowd at MetLife Stadium went wild, sensing a chance at Tebow's first touchdown since being acquired by New York in March.
Tebow stayed in but was stopped for no gain. Then, Sanchez — who has been under fire with many calling for Tebow to take his starting job — had a pass tipped by J.J. Watt and it was incomplete to Chaz Schilens in the end zone on third down.
Perhaps the only bad news for the Texans happened when star linebacker Brian Cushing left in the second quarter with a left knee injury and didn't return.
Since Roger Goodell became commissioner, the NFL has prioritized regulating the conduct of its players and coaches, both on and off the field.
It would be nice if the league could do something about the behavior of its so-called fans, as well.
On a weekend that should have been highlighted by a heart-warming victory by the Indianapolis Colts for ailing coach Chuck Pagano, two disturbing incidents underscored the continued problem of fan misbehavior.
One came in Kansas City, where many in the home crowd cheered after struggling quarterback Matt Cassel went down with a concussion in Sunday’s 9–6 loss to Baltimore.That reaction drew a vitriolic response from Chiefs offensive tackle Eric Winston.
“It’s 100 percent sickening,” Winston said. “I’ve never, ever—and I’ve been in some rough times on some rough teams—I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life to play football than at that moment right there. I get emotional about it because these guys, they work their butts off. Matt Cassel hasn’t done anything to you people.
“Hey, if he’s not the best quarterback, he’s not the best quarterback, and that’s OK, but he’s a person. And he got knocked out in a game and we’ve got 70,000 people cheering that he got knocked out.”
On Monday, while acknowledging freedom of speech, Winston clarified that he knew not all 70,000 were applauding the injury.
“It might have been 7,000. It might have been 700. It’s still too many,” he said.
It’s not new for fans to celebrate an injury to a visiting player, as Michael Irvin once discovered in Philadelphia. But cheering one of your own is rare—especially when the alternative is journeyman Brady Quinn.
At least Cassel is expected to be fine eventually. The same can’t be said for Chicago Bears fan William “Chris” Pettry, whose throat was slashed inside a Jacksonville restaurant bar early Sunday morning.
Pettry, an Illinois resident, reportedly had come to town to watch as the Bears played the Jaguars.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, witnesses told detectives that 27-year-old Matthew Hinson cut Pettry’s throat, put the bloody knife in his pocket and calmly walked out of the restaurant. Hinson is being held without bond on a murder charge.
It’s unclear what preceded the alleged assault. And the NFL clearly has no jurisdiction over what goes on in public places.
Read More: NFL Report: Fans misbehavior has consequences - The Sports Desk
Alex Karras was one of the NFL's most feared defensive tackles throughout the 1960s, a player who hounded quarterbacks and bulled past opposing linemen.
And yet, to many people he will always be the lovable dad from the 1980s sitcom Webster or the big cowboy who famously punched out a horse in Blazing Saddles.
The rugged player, who anchored the Detroit Lions' defense and then made a successful transition to an acting career, with a stint along the way as a commentator on Monday Night Football, died Wednesday at age 77.
Mr. Karras had recently suffered kidney failure and also had dementia. The Lions said he also suffered from heart disease and, for the last two years, stomach cancer. He died at home in Los Angeles surrounded by family members, said Craig Mitnick, Mr. Karras' attorney.
"Perhaps no player in Lions history attained as much success and notoriety for what he did after his playing days as did Alex," Lions president Tom Lewand said.
His death also will be tied to the NFL's conflict with former players over concussions. Mr. Karras in April joined the more than 3,500 football veterans suing the league for not protecting them better from head injuries, immediately becoming one of the best-known names in the legal fight. Mitnick said the family had not yet decided whether to donate Karras' brain for study, as other families have done.
Born in Gary, Ind., Mr. Karras starred for four years at Iowa. Detroit drafted Mr. Karras with the 10th overall pick in 1958, and he was a three-time all-pro defensive tackle over 12 seasons with the franchise.
He was the heart of the Lions' famed "Fearsome Foursome," terrorizing quarterbacks for years. The Lions handed the powerful 1962 Green Bay Packers their only defeat that season, a 26-14 upset on Thanksgiving during which they harassed quarterback Bart Starr constantly.
Read More: NFL great and actor Alex Karras dies at 77
Is it possible Buffalo Bills coach Chan Gailey will lose his job?
The online gambling site Bovada.lv has posted odds that suggest Gailey will be the first NFL coach to get fired in 2012.
Gailey is the 2-to-3 favorite.
Winless Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur is next at 7-to-4, followed by New York Jets coach Rex Ryan at 7-to-1, Kansas City Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel at 15-to-2, Tennessee Titans coach Mike Munchak at 10-to-1 and Philadelphia Eagles mainstay Andy Reid at 15-to-1.
In other Bills-oriented bets you can make at Bovada.lv, they have 200-to-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. Last week, the Bills were 100-to-1.
You also can wager on:
* How many yards the Bills will surrender to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, over or under 350 1/2.
* How many yards per carry the Cardinals will average, over or under 3.9 yards.
* How many times the Bills will sack quarterback Kevin Kolb, over or under 3.5.
A year ago, Green Bay was the hunted, spotless for three months before finally losing, but winding up 15-1 for the season.
Now, the Packers are struggling and have become the spoiler in Week 6 as they face unbeaten Houston.
When the NFL scheduled this game for prime time, it hoped to have a team with a perfect record. That it's the Texans who are 5-0 for the first time in their history is a bit of a surprise.
That Green Bay is 2-3 and can't find the dominant passing offense that it rode to such a gaudy record a year ago was not in NBC's plans. Nor the Packers'.
"Being 2-3 isn't where we expected to be, but we finally get a regular week where we have some time,'' Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said. "I know Houston's coming off a Monday night game so they'll have a short week.
"Ultimately, you have to have a short memory in this game. We let one get away from us last week (at Indianapolis), but we still have all the pieces of the puzzle and look forward to hopefully getting a victory this Sunday.''
The Texans have been the league's most balanced team, and their defense, even without star linebacker Brian Cushing (on injured reserve with a torn left knee ligament), could give Green Bay fits. J.J. Watt is a force not only as a pass rusher with 7 1/2 sacks, but as a pass blocker. He's been compared to a basketball center swatting away balls.
"You're not going to get a sack on every play or on most plays,'' Watt said. "So you find ways to do other things to help, and that's something I can do.''
Also Sunday, Atlanta tries to remain unbeaten when it hosts Oakland; the New York Giants are at San Francisco; Dallas at Baltimore; Denver at San Diego; New England at Seattle; Minnesota at Washington; Detroit at Philadelphia; Buffalo at Arizona; St. Louis at Miami; Cincinnati at Cleveland; Indianapolis at the New York Jets; and Kansas City at Tampa Bay.
Read more: Packers spoilers now against Texans? - NFL - SI-com
A Los Angeles County judge on Friday ordered that Anthony Wayne Smith, a defensive lineman who played for eight years in the 1990s for the NFL's Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, must stand trial for four murders.
Judge Lisa Chung ruled after a four-day preliminary hearing in a court in Lancaster north of Los Angeles that there was sufficient evidence for Smith, 45, to stand trial for the killings that came in a nine-year span beginning the year after Smith's NFL career ended, when prosecutors say he quickly went from terrorizing quarterbacks to a life of very real violence.
Smith had already been tried for one of the killings: the 2008 death of Maurilio Ponce, a mechanic found stomped, beaten and shot along a Southern California desert highway in what prosecutors called a business deal gone wrong.
A jury deadlocked 8-4 in April in favor of guilt, and in July while awaiting retrial, Smith was charged with the other murders.
They include the 1999 killing of Kevin and Ricky Nettles, brothers found shot to death, their bodies dumped about eight miles apart, after they were kidnapped from a Los Angeles car wash.
He's also charged in the June 2001 killing of Dennis Henderson, who, along with another man, was kidnapped in Los Angeles by several gunmen. The other man was let go, but Henderson was found stabbed to death in a rental car.
Defense attorney Daniel Evans said prosecutors have cited no credible motive in any of the cases, and said they all lack physical evidence.
"There's no DNA evidence, there's no fingerprints evidence, there's no ballistics evidence that tie him to any of these cases," Evans told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday night.
The cases will be combined into a single trial. They include special circumstances allegations that make Smith eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek it, district attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.
The case returns to court for a hearing Oct. 29.
Smith, drafted as a pass rusher 11th overall by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1990, amassed 57 1/2 sacks and 190 tackles before retiring in 1998, after the team had returned to Oakland.
Read more: Ex-NFL lineman ordered to stand trial for four murders | Fox News
Tampa Bay's defense was jolted Saturday when the NFL suspended cornerback Aqib Talib four games without pay for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The fifth-year pro said in a statement released by the team that he took an Adderall pill without a prescription "around the beginning of training camp." He will not appeal the ban, which begins Sunday.
Talib was the 20th overall pick in the 2008 draft and is one of the team's top defenders with 18 career interceptions. It's the second suspension of Talib's career.
This is more like it for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The reigning MVP set a career high and tied a franchise record with six touchdown passes and the Packers played their best game of their so far inconsistent season, beating previously unbeaten Houston 42-24 on Sunday night.
Jordy Nelson caught three touchdown passes and James Jones had two, including a beautiful, diving one-hander in the fourth quarter for the Packers (3-3). Tight end Tom Crabtree had the other, a 48-yarder that Rodgers released just before taking a hit from Texans' outside linebacker Brooks Reed.
Rodgers completed 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards. He tied Matt Flynn's game record for TD passes, set in last year's regular-season finale against Detroit with Rodgers resting on the sideline in advance of the playoffs.
The Packers heard criticism from fans in Green Bay all week after blowing a 21-3 halftime lead to the Indianapolis Colts last week. Another loss would have dropped them to 2-4 for the first time since 2006, and they missed the playoffs that season.
Instead, they put themselves right back in the thick of their divisional race.
''This was an important game for us,'' Rodgers said. ''We had a couple not go our way, games we should have won and 2-4 would have been very difficult.''
Read More: NFL: Aaron Rodgers throws 6 touchdowns, Green Bay Packers beat the Houston Texans 42-24, the Texans
Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis will miss the remainder of the season.
Lewis tore his right triceps during Sunday’s 31-29 victory over Dallas. The 37-year-old Lewis leads Baltimore in tackles and is the voice of experience in the huddle. “Ray in the locker room afterward, we didn’t know (the extent of the injury) but he was worried about it,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “He said some things about his faith. He said some things that I’ll never forget.”
Over a spectacular 17-year career, Lewis has been invited to 13 Pro Bowls, was named Super Bowl MVP and is a two-time NFL defensive player of the year. He turns 38 in May.
Baltimore also lost cornerback Lardarius Webb for the year after he tore the ACL in his left knee Sunday.
RAMS: The St. Louis Rams finished with 462 yards at Miami. But they didn’t get enough points with all that offense, made too many errors and now they’re back at .500.
Coach Jeff Fisher mentioned numerous breakdowns in the second quarter as the biggest reason the Dolphins won 17-14.
The Rams (3-3) had six of their 16 double-digit offensive gains in the second quarter, but didn’t score while giving up a 6-0 lead and trailing 10-6 at the half.
“The statistics reflect a well-played game on both sides of the ball,” Fisher said Monday. “But you have to be very careful to walk down the hall thinking that things are OK, because the statistics were so skewed in our favor.”
They were whistled for seven penalties in the quarter on top of mistakes by rookie cornerback Janoris Jenkins and special teams captain Brit Miller that handed the Dolphins those 10 points.
“We were lucky to get away with 10 points in the second quarter,” Fisher said. “That’s definitely the area we’re going to look at. At the end of the day, we let things slip.”
Read More: NFL notes: Ravens lose leader for season - Peoria, IL - pjstar-com
Jimmy Haslam III is sticking to one of the oldest adages in sports, which means Mike Holmgren is out as president of the Cleveland Browns.
Haslam's $1 billion purchase of the franchise was unanimously approved by the 32 NFL teams Tuesday. Shortly after the vote, Haslam announced that Holmgren would be leaving, although the Super Bowl-winning coach will remain with the franchise until the end of the year to help in the transition. Former Eagles President Joe Banner will become the chief executive officer on Oct. 25 when the sale is concluded.
"Mike was brought in to be the president and I think in a lot of ways the de facto owner,'' Haslam said at the NFL's fall meeting, "and with us coming in and taking a more active role, Mike has decided to, effective at the end of the year, leave the Cleveland Browns ...
"Mike will work very closely with us over the next three or four months to ensure that this transition goes as well as possible.''
Haslam plans no other personnel changes before 2013, meaning the jobs of coach Pat Shurmur and his staff and general manager Tom Heckert appear safe for now.
"I told Pat on Saturday night that this was the only personnel move until the end of the season,'' Haslam said. "But I am not at all saying we'll make changes at the end of the season.''
The Browns were the last team to win a game this year, beating Cincinnati on Sunday after five losses. They are tied with Kansas City for the worst record in the league.
"At the end of the year we'll evaluate everybody in the organization just like we will at the end of every year, whether we win the Super Bowl or we win two games,'' Haslam said. "That's our philosophy and that's what we'll do.''
Later Tuesday, the NFL confirmed that Minnesota will host Pittsburgh in a second London game next year. The Vikings and Steelers will play at Wembley Stadium on Sept. 29, 2013, four weeks before Jacksonville hosts San Francisco at Wembley.
Read more: Browns sale to Haslam approved; Holmgren to leave - NFL - SI-com
After almost three full weeks of games officiated by inexperienced replacements, and the scorn that followed, the two sides were finally moving toward completion of a deal to return the regular officials to the field. The question, though, was when.
With Commissioner Roger Goodell deeply involved in the talks for at least a month, some of those involved in the negotiations said they thought an agreement would probably have been reached this week no matter what circumstances existed.
But others said they thought the negotiations were moving too slowly. And then the Seattle Seahawks won a game on national television they should not have, the catalyst that accelerated the talks until a deal was completed Wednesday night.
Read More: www-nytimes-com/2012/09/28/sports/football/rushing-to-get-nfls-regular-referees-back-on-field-html?pagewanted=all&_r=0