I'll still watch just to root against the Patriots. (Yes, I'm still pissed about the "Tuck Rule" game, and probably always will be.) Plus, while I'm mostly indifferent toward the Giants, I do have a soft spot for them since they once beat the Broncos in the Super Bowl.

More importantly than the matchup itself is rules and officiating. I think the Ravens got robbed. Even though the Pats defender knocked the ball out of the receiver's hand, that should have been a touchdown.

I'm well aware that of the rule about possesion and control. In my opinion the receiver had it, but that's not even really my beef. My beef is the inconsistency of the rules. Take Brady's touchdown. He had possession of the ball as the ball crossed the goal line. It was ruled a touchdown, as it should have been. Well, the same goes for the Raven's receiver. But he had to have possession and control and "make a football move." If that's a requirement, then it should have been a requirement for Brady. It would not have been a touchdown for Brady, because falling down isn't a "football move."

And how many facemask penalties went uncalled in the SF-NY game? The refs flag a guy for getting on a camera stand, but not for ripping another player's helmet off? There should have been a lot more flags thrown for all the pushing and shoving going on, too. Overall, there was bad officiating in these two games (and generally throughout the season) and too many of the rules themselves are inconsistent.

Of course, the classic inconsistency in football rules is that a defender who touches an opponents head gets penalized, but it's perfectly okay for a runner to stiff-arm a defender. The latter has never been penalized. It's these kind of bad rules and inconsistencies that make watching and caring about the NFL so difficult for me. It's part of the reason why I stopped watching basketball. The refs never call traveling anymore or blow the whistle for zone defense.

My little rant is over now.