FanHouse SteveTasker

FanHouse's resident referee will chime in weekly with thoughts on major topics relating to officiating. We call it The Zebra Report. Matt Snyder is a high school official with eight years experience. While this is like a third-year resident critiquing the work of a world-renowned surgeon, it's still better than someone who has never worn the stripes.

Lots of controversy this week surrounding the boys in stripes, whether warranted or not, so let's jump right in ...

Incident 1: Mike Martz says the Niners were "screwed every way possible" by the officials. Ah, I love a good example of lacking accountability. I'm sure it was the officials who told Martz to run the football on the previous play with around 10 seconds left and no timeouts. I mean, that's the only way "every way possible" works as an accurate statement.

I'm not sure who decided skittish should be the adjective of choice to describe New York quarterbacks but it's the hottest thing in town. On the heels of Giants GM Jerry Reese using the term to describe Eli Manning, CBS color commentator Steve Tasker called Kellen Clemens skittish after taking a sack during Sunday's win against the Dolphins. Clemens responded to Tasker after yesterday's practice.

"I'm sure that Mr. Tasker is making the best evaluation that he can. It's my job to go out and play. I'm making the decisions the best I can in the spur of the moment. Sometimes they're correct, and there are other times when they're not, but I'm out there doing the best I can."

Clemens was sacked six times Sunday and most of them were a result of his slow/poor reads of the pass rush. D'Brickashaw Ferguson had a terrible game against Jason Taylor but elsewhere the line was solid. Clemens did a poor job evaluating when to throw the ball away and when to pull it down and run.

That's to be expected, though. He's five games into his NFL career and he's seeing things at full speed for the first time. It would be unusual for a quarterback to master the myriad looks and blitzes of NFL defenses that soon in his career. That makes a skittish label a bridge too far at this point. Still, he's been dropped 19 times already and improving his awareness is job one for Clemens going forward.

Steve Tasker will join 23 other men on the Buffalo Bills "Wall of Fame" on September 9th during their opening game against the Denver Broncos.

Tasker was elected to seven Pro Bowls, the most by any special teams coverage man in NFL history, over his 11 year career. In 1993 he was also selected as the Pro Bowls Most Valuable Player, the first and only special teams player to receive that honor as well.

In addition to his special teams contributions, Tasker caught 51 passes for 779 yards and nine touchdowns over his regular season career. Perhaps the best offensive game of his life came in 1995 against the Miami Dolphins when he caught five passes for 108 yards and a touchdown in a 37-22 playoff victory.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)