Right here is the real issue:
With the replacement officials not flagging illegal contact (after all, the penalty doesn’t even exist at the lower levels of the sport), a league source tells PFT that coaches are telling defenders to hold as much as they can, until the officials call it.
If you look past all the hyperbolic screaming from players this past weekend regarding the replacement refs and try to see what, exactly, their gripe is, this is what it really comes down to. Some players, and coaches, are pushing whatever boundaries they can to gain a competitive advantage. Lineman are going “hands to face”, DB’s are frisky with receivers, receivers are pushing off defenders. If these guys aren’t going to call it, then the players will try to get away with it.
The crying is from those who haven’t adjusted, or don’t want to. None of what I saw this weekend rose to the level of costing a team a game. What’s more, it goes both ways, just like with the regular guys. The offense isn’t getting the calls they want and the defense isn’t either.
The fact is, beyond a certain level, the quality of the game is in the players and coaches hands. Always has been, always will be. The question is if the replacement refs are below that level, and, complaints about replays taking too long not-withstanding, I haven’t seen or heard anything solid that says these guys aren’t there.
What it is is different, and some of these guys don’t like it.