Once a week FanHouse's resident referee will chime in with thoughts on major topics relating to officiating. We call it The Zebra Report.

Once again, the NFL's only famous official came under significant scrutiny this week ... and the game was on a national stage, being the Monday night contest between the Vikings and the Saints. There were two calls in particular that we'll check out.

Incident 1: Reggie Bush's facemask mangled, and no one saw it.
MDS already covered this here on FanHouse, but I wanted to point a few things out. First of all, please do not blame Hochuli. If you blame him, you don't know anything about officiating. Ed Hochuli is the referee, and the ball was moving away from him. If he was in proper position -- and I'm assuming he was -- he would have been watching the lineman on the backside and protecting the quarterback from unnecessary roughness. Even if he did glance over at the ball, which admittedly we have a tendency to do, he would have seen Bush's head turn from behind.

You still can't assume that's a facemask from his point of view. Allow me to present a scenario:

Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan has been very hot and cold during the first month of the season. During the first half today, Ryan has been very hot, which explains why the Falcons are halfway to pulling off the upset of the day, as they lead Green Bay 17-7.

Ryan was 13-of-18 for 154 yards and two touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks in the first half. Add in Michael Turner's 59 yards rushing and the Falcons have dominated. The Packers are clearly missing defensive end Cullen Jenkins, who was lost for the year last week. Jenkins teamed with Aaron Kampman to give the Packers a pair of defensive ends who can both play the run and the pass, but with him out, the Packers are struggling against both.

Aaron Rogers has been quite good himself (7-of-9 for 82 yards), but the Packers running game has been nonexistent.

For Atlanta to pull off the upset, Ryan will have to prove he can sustain success for an entire game. He was just as good in the first half against the Lions, but his production in the second half dropped off dramatically.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will start today against the Atlanta Falcons, Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting.

Rodgers had been listed as questionable with a shoulder injury he suffered last week, but he will be able to extend his consecutive starts streak to an impressive five straight games.

If Rodgers hadn't been able to go, it surely would have amplified the criticism of coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson for trading Brett Favre to the Jets. But as it is, Rodgers is playing, and so far this season he's playing pretty well: He has completed 61.9 percent of his passes, with 961 yards through four games, six touchdown passes and three interceptions.

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How bad will the Colts beat the Texans on Sunday? Also, will the Texans win a game this year? Matt Schaub got in tune with the game for a while last week but he is so inconsistent. I think it's time for him to take a hike and take Gary Kubiak with him.
- Ward77029, Texas

Oh ye of little faith. The Texans won't continue to slide into the 2008 twilight. While the Dolphins and Rams last year offered legitimate hope for an 0-16 season, the Texans are simply too talented to continue losing, and I think it comes together this week in what most would consider a shocker. Schaub did begin to harmonize last week, and though the Colts defense is offering a remarkably stout pass defense, they're also now missing Bob Sanders, and if we've learned anything about the Colts it's that their defense relies quite heavily on that tiny young man. Add in a remarkable Texans front four that will be playing against a Colts line that will be missing Tony Ugoh and Ryan Lilja (though the line has done a good patchwork job of protecting Peyton Manning, they've been awful on the ground, and they haven't played a unit like this), and I like the increasingly-healthy Texans' chances of getting in the win column this week. Added motivation? I don't care what Bob McNair says, the Texans have a chip on their shoulder after Jerrah equated the fourth-largest city in America with Mayberry.

The Bears should be 4-0. You could go back and change like two plays to make that happen. Of course, the mark of truly great teams is actually winning those games and not having to say something like I just did. Great teams take care of business and leave the word "if" out in the cold.

Here's the thing, though, in the NFC North this year, you aren't going to have to be a great team to win it.

The Vikings have plenty of issues, none of which relate to Adrian Peterson when healthy, obviously, but they have struggled out of the gate.

The Lions just suck. Again. Shocking, I know.

The Packers are better than the Bears, but not by a ton ... and Aaron Rodgers (don't you dare ever call him, "ARod" please) is hurt. Sure, he might play through it or only miss a game or two, but his injury really hurt the chances of the Packers to fulfill their potential. They have other injury problems as well. Brett Favre is not walking through that door!

Then you have the Bears. A team that won in Indy, and took down the mighty Eagles at home. Yes, the Eagles were without Brian Westbrook, but their defense -- the same one that people couldn't quit talking about before the game -- did yield 24 points to Kyle Orton.

The Green Bay Packers defense suffered a monumental blow Tuesday, as it was announced that end Cullen Jenkins will miss the rest of the season.

Jenkins, a fifth-year pro, was really blossoming into a star end opposite All-Pro Aaron Kampman. He suffered a torn pectoral muscle during Sunday's 30-21 loss at Tampa Bay. The injury will require surgery and around three months of recovery time, making it pointless for Jenkins to remain on the active roster.

For Green Bay, this is a really bad break. Jenkins and Kampman were clearly the bright spots on a defensive line that has struggled to make plays. The trade of tackle Corey Williams to Cleveland before the NFL Draft, combined with the injury problems involving 2007 first-round pick Justin Harrell, really damaged the interior line.

The Packers have already slipped to 27th in the NFL in run defense (almost 160 yards per game, or more than 60 ahead of last year's total), and losing Jenkins isn't going to help.

It's expected that Mike Montgomery and rookie Jeremy Thompson will share time at Jenkins' end position. There will also be pressure on veteran Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila to provide pass pressure.

Of more concern for the Packers than the run support in that spot may be the pass rush Jenkins provides from the interior on passing downs. Montgomery and Thompson aren't likely to be very effective at all in that role, and the Packers don't have any tackles who are good at getting upfield.

The shoulder injury that Aaron Rodgers suffered on Sunday had many Green Bay Packer fans freaking out. And some pundits declaring the Bears early favorites to storm out to a lead in the NFC North. But it appears that such discussion may be a touch premature, at least in part because Aaron Rodgers seems intent on playing this week, shoulder injury or not.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy and his assistants will spend this week monitoring Rodgers' progress and preparing rookie backup Matt Flynn to start, just in case.

"Speaking with Aaron this morning, he has every intention on playing," McCarthy said Monday in Green Bay. "But I think Wednesday's practice will be a pretty good indicator for us. It's just something we'll have to continue to rehab and see where we are on Wednesday."

So maybe I shouldn't be speaking in such absolutes; still, it sure does seem like Rodgers wants to get back out on the field Sunday. And the Packers need him too, what with, well, Matt Flynn calling the signals should Rodgers not make it back.

Of course, if it were the Lions they were squaring off against this week, I would demand that Rodgers rest, since Flynn could handle them without whatever arm he uses to throw the ball. Instead, they've got the Falcons and, well, to be honest ... they'd probably be better resting Rodgers here too. No offense to Matt Ryan.

Fantasy Spin: This is good news, and actually makes Rodgers a decent trade target -- his owner is probably looking to get something at this point. I've got a Rodgers - Derek Anderson combo going in a few leagues, and I'm debating a waiver move, but I'm also not going to do anything crazy until I find out what Rodgers plan of attack is.

Entering Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers had not thrown an interception in 158 pass attempts. He ended up throwing three on just 27 passes in the Packers' 30-21 loss to Tampa Bay.

Though, to be fair, the first pick wasn't his fault, as it was a perfect pass to running back Brandon Jackson, who just happened to allow the ball to bounce off the numbers on his jersey into the waiting hands of Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks.

Rodgers did throw a pair of touchdowns to Greg Jennings, but left the game briefly following the second touchdown due to a shoulder injury. The pass was a perfect strike, splitting the Buccaneers secondary and hitting Jennings in stride as he walked into the end zone untouched. After the pass, however, Rodgers walked off the field with his right arm hanging off his body.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers threw a patented Green Bay TD pass to Greg Jennings (quick post, missed tackle, easy run to the endzone).

However, as soon as Jennings was in the open field, Rodger ran over to the Packers sideline with his right arm down at his side. It isn't known if he hurt his arm on that play or not. The FoxSports broadcast team of Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa are speculating that it happened earlier in the drive when scrambled and dove for a first down.

Rookie Matt Flynn has been warming up, but they've yet to need him. Down 20-14 after the touchdown, Charles Woodson picked off Tampa Bay's Brian Griese and returned it for his own TD. Green Bay now has the lead and their offense is still on the sideline.

UPDATE: Rodgers had been seen throwing on the sideline but has since threw a cap on and seems as if he's done for the day. Flynn has been receiving instructions from coaches as if he will enter the game whenever Green Bay gets the ball back.

UPDATE II: Flynn is entering the game and will presumably play out the rest of the fourth quarter.

UPDATE III: Rodgers did return to the game as the Packers were down 23-21 late. Rodger went back to pass and was absolutely drilled. He got the pass away, but it went into the hands of a Buccaneers defender.

No one would blame Matt Bryant for not playing today against the Green Bay Packers. After all, his son passed away this week. However, Bryant is apparently the strongest emotional human being on the entire planet, because he is playing today.

Bryant is officially listed as questionable, but the St. Petersburg Times reported on its website on Saturday that the 33-year-old veteran is expected to play.

This has been confirmed as well by the fact that Bryant is already warming up in Tampa, preparing to kick today.

I have no kids nor have I ever had any kids, so I can't speak to what it would be like to lose one. However, I do understand what it means to have lost someone close to you and how it affects you over the next few days/weeks/months/however long.

So, for Matt Bryant to be kicking on a Sunday after he lost his son on a Wednesday makes him a man amongst boys in my opinion. And talk about the lack of athleticism needed to be a kicker all you want, but stepping foot on the gridiron that soon after the passing of a child makes him the toughest guy on the field by far.