A Closer Look at the Replacement Refs It was an uneventful Week 1, in a good way, as the N.F.L. replacement referees did not steal much attention from the players on the field. There were the usual complaints and borderline calls, including a flag thrown on a textbook block in the back by Green Bay on Randall Cobb's touchdown return against San Francisco on Sunday. Instead, the referees picked up the flag, and the Packers' score counted. In Arizona, an inexcusable gaffe allowed Seattle to have four timeouts as they frantically attempted to tie the game. But both the Cardinals and the 49ers won, muting any cries about the replacement officials. It's difficult to test whether the replacement referees were any different than the regular crews. Tests work best with objective data, and the performance of referees is inherently subjective. But we do have some numbers to go by. Some have argued that the officiating crews let defensive backs play more physically than the regular officials have allowed in recent years, thinking that the replacements were loath to throw huge flags in key situations. But in that infamous final minute in Seattle, the referees flagged Arizona for defensive pass interference on two key plays. In fact, there were 29 defensive pass-interference penalties called by the referees in Week 1, the most during an opening week since at least 2000. Over the last 10 years, there have been 130 such penalties called during the opening weeks of N.F.L. seasons, or 13 per year. Despite the subjective arguments, replacement officials called defensive pass interferences more than twice as frequently as the regular crews have done in Week 1. Maybe coaches were instructing their defensive backs to play more physically, hoping that the referees would be afraid to throw the flag. Regardless, the evidence in no way supported the idea that the replacements were letting defensive backs get away with more. What about penalties over all? On average, over the last 10 years, 208 penalties have been called in Week 1. With the replacement referees over the last week, there were 206 penalties, in line with historical averages. Penalty yardage was slightly up, most likely as a result of more defensive pass interference calls, but that metric was also in line with norms. One area where I thought we might see an effect was in the percentage of penalties called on the road team. Would replacement officials be more likely to cave to the demands of the crowds? From 2002 to 2011, home teams in Week 1 were called for an average of 100 penalties for 817 yards, and road teams saw 108 penalties for 877 yards. This past weekend, home teams were penalized 90 times for 769 yards, and road teams were whistled for 116 penalties worth 968 yards. So yes, home teams did appear to catch a few more breaks than normal. But in both 2005 and 2011, home teams were called for at least 25 fewer penalties and 185 fewer penalty yards than their road counterparts. With such a small sample size, the Week 1 results fit within the variation we would expect, although this might be a trend worth keeping an eye on. There will always be bad calls, of course, and that fact provides little comfort to those teams that have been wronged. But over all, it was a steady weekend for the men in stripes. In quarterback news... Brandon Weeden's debut was perhaps the worst debut by a quarterback in modern history. Weeden was 12 for 35 for 118 yards, and he threw four interceptions. In 15 drives, he led the Browns to three field goals, all of which came after he inherited good field position following an Eagles turnover. Weeden had a 5.1 passer rating, the lowest rating by a quarterback with at least 30 pass attempts since Kordell Stewart in 1998 recorded the same number. It was the lowest passer rating recorded by a quarterback at home since Vince Ferragamo in 1984, also in a season opener. In fact, since the A.F.L.-N.F.L. merger, only eight quarterbacks have had a passer rating of 5.1 or worse on 30 attempts, and none of them played in as passing-friendly an era as Weeden. Weeden's horrific game enabled Mike Vick to have his own extreme performance. He went from goat to hero as he threw four interceptions but led the Eagles on a game-winning drive and recorded the 11th fourth-quarter comeback of his career. Vick is the third quarterback in the last decade to end the day with a fourth-quarter comeback and a game-winning drive despite throwing at least four interceptions, joining Tony Romo (against Buffalo in 2007) and Marc Bulger (against Arizona in Week 12 of the 2003 season). Vick is the first quarterback to meet those thresholds in Week 1 since Buffalo's Joe Ferguson pulled off that feat against the Dolphins in 1980. Robert Griffin III was an incredible 19 for 26 for 320 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading the Redskins to an upset win over the Saints. His 139.9 passer rating was the highest by a rookie quarterback in his team's first game since Fran Tarkenton against the Bears in 1961. In touchdown streak news, Drew Brees and Tom Brady extended their streaks of consecutive games with a passing touchdown to 44 and 33. Brees is a month away from breaking Johnny Unitas's record of 47, although it may be less impressive than you might think. Matt Ryan threw a touchdown pass in the last 15 games of both the 2010 and 2011 seasons but failed to throw for a touchdown in Week 1 each year. He corrected that problem against the Chiefs, throwing for three touchdowns and running for one more in a 40-24 victory in Kansas City. Chase Stuart runs FootballPerspective.com and is a staffer at FootballGuys.com.