During football games, officials are usually only noticed for their bad calls and are usually singled out for abuse rather than praise. But we ought to celebrate referees because not too long ago, they were absent from our lives.

It’s been just over a year since the NFL reached an agreement with its regular officials, ending the reign of terror of the replacement refs. Last season the difference in the quality of officiating was drastic and the importance of competent referees came onto everyone’s radar.

Fast forward to this weekend, when New England Patriots fans were ready to explode. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called on the Pats defense as the New York Jets missed a potential game-winning field goal in overtime. The result was fifteen yards, a first down and, three plays later, a game-winning field goal for the Jets.

As it turns out, this was the first time ever that particular unsportsmanlike conduct rule had been invoked. The rule is new for 2013, and this week it was thrown into the spotlight when it gave the Jets the game. The rule states that a defensive player may not push a teammate into the line of scrimmage, and it follows the trend of rules implemented to prevent head-to-head collisions during play.

Patriots fans moaned, cried and broke things, but at the end of the day, the call was correct, and even Bill Belichick, New England’s hooded guru, admitted the referees were correct in their call.

The same could not be said for last year, when a Justin Tucker field goal ended a Patriots-Ravens game and Belichick was fined $50,000 for grabbing an official while demanding a review of the call. The kick had gone over the goal posts and was very close to being no good. Those referees were the replacements that were hired in place of the locked out officials.

That same week, an infamous call was made in the Seattle-Green Bay game that still has mild-mannered Wisconsinites out for blood (or cheese). Two days after that debacle, the NFL settled with the locked-out officials and brought back Ed Hochuli, Mike Carey and all of the referees that NFL fans love to overlook.

See, a referee is at their best when they become unnoticeable. There will always be occasional tough rulings, but as long as officials get every mundane call correct, they ought to fit seamlessly into the flow of play. If not for the zebra stripes on their uniforms, the refs would ideally be invisible.

Now, I would be remiss in my New England fandom if I did not point out the fact that on practically every field goal ever kicked there are defensive players pushing each other forward at the line of scrimmage. Making such a call for the first time in a division game in overtime is foolish. In addition, the defensive push had little-to-no effect on Nick Folk’s inability to hit a 56-yard field goal, which would have been a career long for the Jets kicker.

Nevertheless, Pats fans must swallow their pride, like the officials should have swallowed their whistles, and accept the fact that things could be worse. Much worse. The NFL could have kept around the replacement refs. So give a big hug and a kiss to the NFL referees in your life, they deserve it and many more.

Peter is a freshman in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @pbaileywells22.