Cowboys-Redskins was the biggest matchup of the year, a win-or-go-home game for two division rivals. It turned out to be the most-watched regular-season sporting event in 15 years. But one familiar face was missing from the FedEx Field suites: commissioner Roger Goodell, who found something else to do Sunday night.…

How excited was CBS for the return of union officials? Ed Hochuli's crew did the full Super Bowl-style intros before tonight's Jacksonville-Cincinnati game; the officials even said where they went to school. It was cute, but a little weird; after all, we're already back to booing these guys. [CBS]

You remember Lance Easley, yes? Side judge who signaled "touchdown, Seattle," overruling his colleague and singlehandedly becoming the biggest reason the lockout ended when it did. It's not often someone gets famous for being bad at his job, but if Lance Easley is going to be bad at his job, he might as well try to make…

Roger Goodell is the worst, a nothingburger who rose to power on his daddy's good name, a sort of Commissioner Fredo whose legacy thus far is two self-destructive labor fights, some owner collusion, and ceaseless bullshit about the sanctity of the game. We've spent a lot of time writing about all these things, but…

Judy Battista of The New York Times has the most complete rundown of the negotiations that got the referees back on the field last night, and it becomes clear that the Packers-Seahawks debacle didn't get the deal done, but it did get it done faster.

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Everyone still refers to Seattle's game-winning touchdown as "controversial," but that's a misnomer. It's actually one of the least controversial plays out there, one that everyone from sports writers to casual fans agree should have been an interception. This is only a slight simplification, but the call on the field…

Here's a greatest hits compilation that surfaced on YouTube within minutes of the news that the NFL and its referees had come to agreement on a new labor deal. Seeing all these lowlights strung together in one sad clip after another does give an appreciation for the unprecedented levels of suckitude that filled our…

After 48 regular season games that nearly brought the National Football League to its knees and turned the league's officiating into a recurring national joke, the NFL and the referees union have agreed to a new eight-year deal and the officials will be back on the job Thursday night in Baltimore.

The replacement officials made many mistakes over the weekend, some of such great consequence that they inspired incredible anger, others bad enough only to prompt a very loud "bullshit" chant. But they've all been bad. Instead of focusing on one specific mistake, or all the mistakes as a whole, though, we want to focus…