Replacement refs. They need to go. I'm not going to start rooting for the Packers, but they were robbed. In plain sight. Under the bright spotlights of MNF. After a second look at replay cameras. Pitiful.

It does leave the Bears atop the NFC North (they beat the Colts, the 2-1 Vikings did not), but it is a smeared lead, deserving of the asterisk suggested by Raji et al. Let's all hope that deal gets done before TNF...

9-7 is not bad, per se, but it isn't exactly great, either. The final-moments defense of many teams very much earned an assessment of atrocious, however, as a good number of these games were won in the last 2 minutes, or overtime, when one team had a commanding league.

Rams @ Bears:
So the O didn't bounce back. Completely. Playcalling certainly improved, but execution...needs work. The D was stifling, the line was overpowering, the secondary was playing (the) ball. Pressuring the QB. It works, fellas. If defense wins championships, then judging by the early returns, we're set. Also, Tim Jennings literally had a hand in every INT this season. Dude's balling out of his mind, and people are taking notice.

Lions @ Titans:
An exciting game, to be sure. A final score of 44-41 is apt to be so, and 6 TDs in the final quarter certainly makes for good TV. Jake Locker was good, Chris Johnson...was not. It didn't seem to matter, but CJ has too much talent to not have at least 100 yds after 3 games. Also, Stafford was injured and Shaun Hill led a very spirited comeback attempt. Then the Lions, not trusting their D, being greedy, or just...I dunno, but not taking the 3 points on fourth down at the 7 yard line was not a good idea. Then again, hindsight is 20/20.

Eagles @ Cardinals:
Man, those Cardinals have a defense, huh? Also, the Eagles turnover problems finally came back to bite them. Kevin Kolb is finally giving the Cards something in the ROI department, and that's great for him. It's cool to see guys just keep chipping away until something clicks, and they find the success that they have been searching for.

Patriots @ Ravens:
The Ravens are playing some good football right now. Their defense may not be what it once was, but that offense--Joe Flacco in particular--is really taking flight. It was inspiring to see Torrey Smith play after receiving the news of his brother's passing, and even more admirable that he had the game he did, a la Brett Favre. It came down to a last-minute field goal again, but this time...the Ravens came out on top.

25-23 after three weeks. I'll try to improve that this week, but we'll see what happens, especially with the refereeing crisis.