Mike Freeman

Every call he makes is argued or booed. Every move is scrutinized. Each flag he throws is seemingly challenged.

The life of referee Ed Hochuli hasn't gotten much better since that infamous day several weeks ago.

What's happening now is that every call Hochuli makes is over-scrutinized and he's not helping himself by blowing calls or missing them all together.

This was clear in the Monday night game between Minnesota and New Orleans. The crew missed a blatant facemask on Reggie Bush and called a pass that clearly hit the ground complete.

On the first call Saints coaches went insane screaming and hollering. The Vikings did the same after the Saints called a timeout after a successful deep pass by Minnesota. The Vikings felt the Saints didn't signal the timeout in, well, time.

Blown calls and angry coaches happen every Sunday but it's almost as if teams are taking advantage of Hochuli's damaged state.

Reaction to Hochuli by coaches needs to be closely watched by the NFL. It's one thing when fans boo everything Hochuli does. It's another witnessing the behavior of the coaches on both sidelines on Monday night. Teams seem to be saying: we know Hochuli, for now at least, is vulnerable and we're going to try and take advantage of that.

If that feeling remains a permanent one you have to wonder how long Hochuli can remain doing his job.