I discuss penalties all the time, in the sense that the Green Bay Packers shouldn't commit so many of them. Though I do have to give them credit for cutting down on the special teams penalties so far this season. I did criticize the officials for failing to throw a flag on a shot to the head that concussed QB Aaron Rodgers, but as the title of this post explains, the first place you need to look after a big win or loss is in the mirror. I hate writing about officiating, but all of the recent news regarding Brad Childress's post-game tirade has made this issue impossible to ignore.
I don't expect much from NFL officials. The rules are subjective, the officials are human, and sometimes what looks like a penalty to one official doesn't to another. I'm just glad that NFL officials aren't as bad as the jerks in the NBA. Or some of the prima donna umpires in MLB. They're not perfect, but the NFL officials are the best in the three major sports.
The only complaints I've read about in "the worst coached officiated game I've ever seen" concern two plays. The touchdown pass to TE Visanthe Shiancoe that was overturned on review, and the touchdown pass to TE Andrew Quarless that he didn't have control of. The second isn't a problem with officiating, they don't have x-ray vision to see through three players, it's a problem with the coaches not challenging a play. Let's give them the Shiancoe touchdown pass, so they can have their tied game.
Then we can give to the Packers, thanks to Aaron Schatz for the descriptions, the 1st down reception to WR Greg Jennings that wasn't, and the 4th down carry by FB John Kuhn that went for a 1st down but was blown dead before he crossed the marker. Or we can look back at the tape and marvel at the lack of holding calls against RT Phil Loadholt (he ended up with only one penalty in the game). We could take a closer look at this all week!
Back to my earlier discussion of the Redskins game, if the official had actually called that penalty when Rodgers was hit in the head while throwing an INT, it could have turned the game around. Instead my complaints after the game were that the special teams sucked (again), and that Mike McCarthy turned down the chance for a chip shot FG so they could go for it on 4th and goal. Blaming the officials doesn't help a team at all going forward and instead they should look at what their players and coaches can control.