Off Topic » Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell

LAKE BUENA VISTA Diontae Johnson Jersey , Fla. (AP) — watched the NFL’s conference championship games on his phone while flying home from South Africa last weekend.The stream cut in and out occasionally, causing Campbell to think for a brief moment that he missed something when no flag was thrown on Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman late in the NFC title game. Turns out, Campbell saw it perfectly clear and was stunned officials chose not to penalize Robey-Coleman for flattening Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis before the ball arrived.“Very, very surprised,” Campbell said.The now-infamous no-call has been the talk of Pro Bowl week, with several players calling for better officiating and more accountability for those in black and white. Others suggest expanding the use of video replay.“You just make a better call,” Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “I know there’s been talk about replay. But you really didn’t need replay to make that call. It was just a missed call. It was that simple. That happens. You have human error, but it’s unfortunate when that changes everything that you’ve worked for as a team and how hard it’s been to get back to that spot. That’s tough.”No one at the league’s annual all-star game went as far as retiring New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson did, though. Watson ripped NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday for his public silence following the blown call.Watson posted a letter to Goodell on Twitter, saying “we all realize that football is an imperfect game, played, coached and officiated by imperfect people. What occurred last Sunday in New Orleans, though, was outside of that expected and accepted norm.”“Your continued silence on this matter is unbecoming of the position you hold, detrimental to the integrity of the game and disrespectful and dismissive to football fans everywhere,” Watson continued. “From the locker room to Park Ave., accountability is what makes our league great. Lead by example. We are waiting.”Officials could have — and by most accounts should have — flagged Robey-Coleman for pass interference and helmet-to-helmet contact during the play. Drew Brees‘ pass fell incomplete inside the Rams 10-yard line with 1:45 left in a tie game. The Saints settled for a field goal. The Rams tied the game on Greg Zuerlein’s 48-yarder in regulation and won it in overtime with his 57-yarder.“How many times have you played a football game and seen the call that should have been called but didn’t, or a call that got called and it shouldn’t have been called?” Campbell said. “It happens all the time in this game. It’s just part of football. You get upset for a second, but then you go keep playing ball. The Saints did have a chance. They had the ball in overtime, had a chance to go out there and win it. This game, it’s tough.”But the overwhelming sentiment at the Pro Bowl was something needs to be done to prevent errors as egregious as the one in the NFC title game.“The tough thing is we have things that are reviewable, things that aren’t reviewable,” Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Kyle Williams said. “You can’t review it inside of two minutes. I don’t know why we put limitations on things, but at the same time, games have missed calls one way or another. But you hated to see something that appeared to be that way finish a game like that, finish a season. For us as a league, it’s hard to limit when you can and when you can’t review those things and do all that.”Added Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch: “If dudes are missing calls on the field Justin Layne Jersey , they’ve got to make them up in the box.”Several others echoed Vander Esch’s argument, which essentially was: What’s the point of having extra officials upstairs and more watching at the league office in New York if no one can step in and correct an obvious mistake?“Honestly, full speed, I was like, ‘He kind of got there early, but it was bang-bang,'” New York Giants safety/special teams ace Mike Thomas said. “You slow it down, clearly he got there early. I was like, ‘Ohhh.’ It looked way worse when you slowed it down.“We’ve been calling for — players, coaches, fans — for replays for pass interference calls anyway. There’s a bunch of times they throw it on DBs and we feel like we’re in great position. I think you just make all those major calls like that reviewable and just got from there.”Not everyone was so eager to broaden use of replay.Campbell, for one, urged fans and colleagues to slow down. He believes more replay would only muck up the tempo of games and make them longer.“You cannot open up a can of worms,” said Campbell, an 11-year veteran and a team player rep. “But what you can do is you can try to prepare the referees better because they can’t miss that call. In those clutch situations, in that moment, he has to make that call. And whatever the consequences are for him missing the call, maybe make those public so we all know and everybody feels better. Make them be held accountable and they will have the motivation to call it the right way.” Shout it from the top of Mount Washington: It’s the Game of the Year! Perhaps the Game of the Decade!! Maybe the Game of the Millennium!!! Or, very possibly, a big dud. Until their flop in Miami on Monday night, the New England Patriots were playing as many thought they would heading into the season: like a powerhouse. And the Pittsburgh Steelers were squeezing past inferior foes , bringing into question whether they could slow the Foxborough freight train. The Dolphins did just that, one day after the Steelers needed another late rally to edge archrival Baltimore and clinch the AFC North. So while Sunday’s contest at Heinz Field will almost certainly decide the top seed in the AFC, it’s not exactly Ali-Frazier, two undefeated heavyweights facing off. ”It’s good to be in big games than be in ones nobody’s watching,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says. ”We better be appreciative of this spot and not resist it in any way. This is what we’ve been fighting for since March. Why would you fight that? It’s an awesome thing.” Forget their `A’ game, which the Steelers (11-2) seem to have misplaced for much of the past two months despite winning eight straight Benny Snell Jr. Jersey , with a half-dozen of them close (decided by one, three, three, three, five and six points. They will need their `AAA game’ against New England (10-3), which knows a loss eliminates it from topping the conference heading into the postseason. ”It’s all about us being prepared to play Pittsburgh,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty says, mimicking his coach. ”All the extra stuff comes with it, but it’s just if we worry about the playoffs, we’ll go down there and we’ll get killed, honestly.” The action got started Thursday night in a game with no playoff implications, the Denver Broncos’ 25-13 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Brock Osweiler threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in relief of the injured Trevor Siemian, and C.J. Anderson rushed for 158 yards on 30 carries as Denver (5-9) won its second straight and handed the Colts (3-11) their fifth consecutive loss. Siemian injured his left shoulder in the first quarter and did not return. On Saturday night, Kansas City routed the turnover-prone Los Angeles Chargers 30-13 to seize control of the AFC West. Also Saturday, Detroit beat Chicago 20-10. Alex Smith threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt ran for 155 yards and a score for the Chiefs (8-6), whose eighth straight win over the visiting Chargers (7-7) all but sewed up the division and a spot in the playoffs. The only way Kansas City can squander it is by losing its last two games and the Chargers or Oakland Raiders winning out. In Detroit, Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and avoided mistakes, allowing the Lions (8-6) to stay in the playoff picture. The Bears (4-10) have lost six of seven. Dallas (7-6) at Oakland (6-7) Oakland might need to win out for any shot at the postseason. Same for Dallas, chasing a wild card in the much-stronger NFC. With star RB Zeke Elliott suspended for one more game, the combination of Dak Prescott throwing to Jason Witten and Dez Bryant has been the focal point on offense. Prescott’s coming off his first 300-yard passing game of the season with a career-high 332 against the woeful Giants. After fizzling in KC, Oakland needs to rediscover its offense and get pressure on Prescott from Bruce Irvin and Khalil Mack. Los Angeles Rams (9-4) at Seattle (8-5) The Rams lost two of four in the midst of a very difficult stretch. Now, the key division matchup with the banged-up, penalty-prone Seahawks. Seattle, whose air of invincibility at home has been punctured with two losses in the past three, won the first meeting and would have the tiebreaker with a repeat. This easily could come down to Russell Wilson , making a late run for league MVP Zach Gentry Jersey , lighting up the skies against Rams QB Jared Goff, one of the NFL’s most-improved players in 2017. LA is 3-0 after a loss; the Eagles beat the Rams last Sunday. Green Bay (7-6) at Carolina (9-4) Huge one for both sides, and this time the Packers head into it with Aaron Rodgers back at quarterback. Recovered from his broken collarbone – Green Bay stayed relevant without him, going 3-4 – Rodgers might have some rust. Still, was there ever any doubt he would replace Brett Hundley when his wing was healed? ”Hopefully it gives a lift to some of the guys but I’m not coming back to save this team,” Rodgers said. ”I’m coming back to play quarterback the way I know how to play it.” Rodgers will face a formidable defense that includes end Julius Peppers, who left Green Bay for a return to Carolina this season and has 5 + sacks in the past four games against his former team, and LB Luke Kuechly (100 tackles in six straight seasons.) New York Jets (5-8) at New Orleans (9-4) New Orleans owns the tiebreaker over Carolina thanks to a season sweep, and gets fortunate here. Josh McCown, having the best season of his lengthy, vagabond pro career, has a broken hand, so untested Bryce Petty gets the start. The Saints lost two of their past three, against top-level opponents, so they aren’t likely to fall into any traps. Their well-balanced and top-ranked offense could go wild against the inconsistent Jets, and no team has improved more on D than Nawlins. Atlanta (8-5) at Tampa Bay (4-9), Monday night While the Buccaneers spiral enough to put coach Dirk Koetter’s job security in question, it’s the defending NFC champ Falcons who have been maddeningly up and down. Get this: Atlanta is 4-3 in its new, billion dollar palace. That means the Monday night spotlight should be fine, especially for WR Julio Jones. He had a season-best 12 receptions for 253 yards and two TDs against the Bucs three weeks ago – his NFL-record third game with 250-plus yards receiving. No other receiver in league history has more than one. Cincinnati (5-8) at Minnesota (10-3) Vikings will secure NFC North crown for second time in three seasons by winning, and the Bengals have never won in five trips to Minnesota. Cincinnati didn’t even show up at home last Sunday in being routed by the Bears. Yes, the Bears. Minnesota’s defense had an off day at Carolina, but is formidable enough to win big. The combined record of teams the Vikings have lost to is 27-12. Combined record of teams the Bengals have beaten, counting the Browns twice, is 14-51. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was the defensive coordinator for the Bengals under current coach Marvin Lewis from 2008-2013. And here’s a strange stat: Lewis has never lost to any former assistant, going 6-0-1. Philadelphia (11-2) at New York Giants (2-11) An Eagles victory and a Vikings loss makes Philly the place to go through in the NFC playoffs. Of course, Eagles fans mostly are looking at the bleak side: Carson Wentz Nick Bosa Jersey , the superb young quarterback who has engineered much of this year’s turnaround, tore his left ACL at the Rams and is done for the season. Then again, Philly probably could suit up Ron Jaworski instead of Nick Foles and win this by letting its top-notch defense loose against the beleaguered Giants. The Eagles have won six of seven and 15 of the past 19 against the Giants. Houston (4-9) at Jacksonville (9-4) OK, take a deep breath and listen: Jacksonville clinches a playoff berth with a win. It can even get in with help in other cities despite a loss. Not only that, the Jaguars, with their terrific pass rush and strong ground game, have a shot at a first-round playoff bye. ”To be at the bottom and to finally fight our way, work our way and get back up, just to be in the position that we’re at now, it’s great and it shows you that we’ve finally started to earn the right to win,” linebacker Paul Posluszny says. ”Now we want more.” Houston might have been in position for more in 2017 had the injury bug not ravaged the roster. The Texans, already minus brilliant DE J.J. Watt and excellent LB Whitney Mercilus, are down to their third quarterback, T.J. Yates. Tennessee (8-5) at San Francisco (3-10) The Titans can’t afford a stumble against the suddenly competitive Niners. San Francisco lost its first nine, but now has won three of four. Jimmy Garoppolo is playing like he will fill that franchise QB role the Niners hoped he would when they dealt with New England to get him. Tennessee has a showdown in Music City in Week 17 with the Jaguars. The Titans can make that a winner-take-the-division matchup if they beat San Francisco and then the Rams in Nashville next week. Miami (6-7) at Buffalo (7-6) After stunning New England, the Dolphins go to a place they don’t much like, particularly in December. RB Kenyan Drake has emerged and receiver Jarvis Landry remains steady. The defense befuddled Brady last Monday night, and expected starter Tyrod Taylor is no Brady. Bills star LeSean McCoy probably has been doing a snow dance all week. He was dominant in last weekend’s 13-7 overtime win a blizzard against Indianapolis, the second time in his career the running back has dashed through the snow like that. Baltimore (7-6) at Cleveland (0-13) A sputtering offense came to life for the Ravens at Pittsburgh, where they should have won to make them a solid leader for a wild card. Even if that attack goes back to its previous ways, seeing Baltimore destroy much of its postseason chances in this one is unlikely. A 3-0 finish gets the Ravens in. A 3-0 finish would be miraculous for the Browns, the first team in NFL history to start 0-13 in consecutive seasons. Arizona (6-7) at Washington (5-8) Of interest here – wait, we’ll find something – is Cardinals RB Adrian Peterson, who needs one rushing TD to reach 100 and 37 yards to pass the great Jim Brown (12,312) on the career rushing list. But Peterson is battling a neck problem that could sideline him for the final three games. —