Tasser: NFL regular season full of surprises

Through the first three weeks of the season, the NFL has proved wildly unpredictable.

Take…Through the first three weeks of the season, the NFL has proved wildly unpredictable.

Take this past weekend, which featured 10 games (out of 16) decided by seven points or less. Six of those were won by a field goal and in seven, the winning points were scored in the last minute of regulation or overtime.

On top of that, two of those contests — both prime-time national broadcasts — came down to questionable calls by the infamous replacement zebras on the final plays of the games. On Sunday, the Ravens beat the Patriots 31-30 on a field goal, which may or may not have been good (I seriously don’t know which; my disdain for both teams led me to hope the officials would just give them both losses). And on Monday, a lack of a penalty on an egregious example of offensive pass-interference made possible a maybe-interception-maybe-touchdown-what-the-hell-we-don’t-know hail mary that gave Seattle a 14-12 win over Green Bay.

Oh, and did I mention that the hail mary shifted between $150 million to $250 million of bets in Vegas, according to ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell? Up by five, Green Bay was about to cover the spread of three-and-a-half points, and then, voila! Seattle gets a gift.

The replacement referees are adding an extra element of surprise to a season in which literally anything could happen. Only three teams are undefeated: the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons, who were both expected to be good, and the Arizona Cardinals, who were expected to be horrible.

Buffalo was blown out by an over-hyped New York Jets team, but then the Bills won their next two games and are now tied with the Jets atop their division. Meanwhile, the big bad Patriots sit at 1-2, just like the Steelers, whose defense looked great dismantling the Jets, but the exact opposite in bad losses to Denver and Oakland.

The Minnesota Vikings, another supposedly putrid team, just put a beat down on the San Francisco 49ers, who were generally believed to be the best team in the league. Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder seemed to put on a magic football jersey, transforming into Steve Young (anybody remember that Disney show where the kids did that?).

Probably the biggest sign that this will be a crazy season is that there are only two winless teams: the New Orleans Saints and the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland was supposed to be bad but has played three rather competitive games, going toe-to-toe with Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Buffalo. The Browns’ defense actually looks good (did I just write that?). Very talented New Orleans, on the other hand, is suffering through its “Bountygate” suspensions — punishments resulting from an alleged cash pool that rewarded players for injuring opponents — and is working with an interim-interim coach.

When the winless teams look as though they can beat anybody, what does that say about the rest of the league? It’s easy to place the blame for such a crazy beginning on the replacement refs. After both of this weekend’s prime-time debacles — and with an increasing number of players speaking out — the NFL should be on its hands and knees begging the real officials for forgiveness. But I have a feeling that when the real referees are back, the results won’t be any more predictable.