Castrodale: How about a Falcons-Texans Super Bowl? We might be debating Schaub vs. Ryan in February, not the usual stars we've come to expect updated 5:34 p.m. Give yourselves a hand, Americans. You could be a scout leader who let his Webelos get sun poisoning, an orthopedist who sawed into the wrong femur, or any Steve Carell character and you're still better at your job than the NFL's replacement referees were at theirs. Those crews bumbled and bungled their way through the first three weeks of the season, managing to singlehandedly overshadow the games they were calling. But now that they've been booted back to being the second-string judges for the Puppy Bowl and other sideshows, we can appreciate their one positive contribution. They taught us that even in the most supercharged of election years, whether we're Democrats or GOP-ers, NFC-ers or AFC-ers, we can all agree on one thing: that they were undeniably awful. Longtime referee Ed Hochuli has the locked-out crews ready to return this week, which means we can finally stop staring at the refs and start focusing on the players again, especially the ones who have quietly played well so far. Houston has Schaub-ed their way to their first 4-0 start in franchise history. Atlanta is 4-0 for the first time since 2004. And Arizona (!) with its powerful 31st-ranked offense is inexplicably 4-0 for the first time since 1974. The Cardinals' early success has been an unexpected fluke, like a genetic mutation or a coherent-sounding Courtney Love, and with apologies to both Kevin Kolb and the Arizona hat I wear in public, I don't see them sustaining it. But the Texans and the Falcons will. Both offenses have looked sharp and both defenses have sent Peyton Manning to the losers' locker room with his worst passer rating since 2008 (58.5, against Atlanta) and his second lowest completion percentage since 2007 (50 percent, against Houston). It might be early to start winging wild speculations around, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub staring at each other from opposite sides of Sports Illustrated's Super Bowl preview issue. After nine years of Patriots and Giants and Steelers and Colts, the thought of Atlanta-Houston in Super Bowl XLVII is enough to make CBS executives sweat through their tailored suits, but they should probably start dipping each other into vats of AXE body spray because this could be the year that it happens. Atlanta's next games are against Washington and Oakland, two teams that have three wins combined. The Raiders have a pillow-soft pass defense, which is excellent news for Ryan, who has looked like the best quarterback in the league this season. He's sitting on top of the statistical categories, with NFL bests in completion percentage (72.0), passer rating (114.0) and touchdowns (11), an improvement over this time last year when he had a 60 percent completion percentage, with five touchdowns and four interceptions. Those Falcons also had a 1-2 record. As for Houston, they have a good chance to make it through the Titans and the Tebows with their win streak and their earlobes intact (and Schaub should be totally offended that his missing ear chunk didn't even get its own Twitter account. You know @TommyBradysEar TOTALLY would've been a thing). Houston supposedly has the fourth weakest schedule in the NFL and - after they welcome the Packers and the Ravens to Reliant Stadium - it looks like their biggest opponents could be their injury report. In Week 10 last year, Schaub suffered a season-ending foot injury, the highlight of which was hearing Texas natives pronounce the word 'Lisfranc.' It also meant that the team's first-ever playoff appearances were put in the hands of backup-backup T.J. Yates, the rookie with five career starts. And they still just lost the division playoff by a touchdown. Running back Arian Foster is also getting back to speed after a hamstring injury kept him sidelined for three games last season. After a slow (er) start, he's averaging 3.7 yards per carry, which is below his career mark, and an even 98 yards per game. Yes, the season's only four weeks old so it's totally ridiculous to talk about the postseason. I know that Houston's entire playoff CV is so short that Old Navy couldn't help but invent a championship for them. I know that Atlanta hasn't been in the same room with the Lombardi trophy since 1998. And I know that their one-and-out playoff appearances have become a January tradition. But I also know that Houston and Atlanta are what we're going to be talking about in February, when we stumble into our offices bleary eyed and Dorito-stained on that post-XLVII Monday. And regardless of who wins, when I think back to how the season started, I'll be extra relieved that we're not talking about the refs. Jelisa Castrodale has learned a lot about life by making a mess of her own. Read more at jelisacastrodale.com, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/gordonshumway, or contact her at jacastrodale@gmail.com.