Oh, Brother

Now the NFL is saying that the play ending the Packers-Cardinals game last Sunday constituted a legitimate no-call.

Oh. Aaron Rodgers' facemask getting grabbed was no big deal. Anybody ask him about that?

The NFL rule says that the mask violation, bringing with it a 15-yard penalty, must constitute a twisting motion.

Okay, fine. Take a good look at the play. If the referee did see it--and yesterday, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt because he might have been paying attention to the status of the ball, once Rodgers fumbled--he had no choice but to throw that flag.

The NFL's saying that the mask was tugged straight down, without twisting; that it was "incidental", not intentional; that it didn't violate any rules.

Nonsense. That's a dangerous play to make for anybody against anybody. Grabbing the mask and pulling straight down, or forcing it straight down due to inadvertant action, is a dangerous thing do to to any player, in any game. If you've had it happen, you know.

The Packers got robbed, at least on that play. And while it's true that their defense was pretty much non-existent the entire afternoon, nobody knows what might have happened if Arizona would have been give 35 yards to go to score, rather than allowing them to romp into the end zone and end the game right there.

Incidental? Oh, brother. Puh-leeze.