They have made bad calls...just not supported by the NFL and the Owners like these fools were.
I saw very few calls made by the replacements that were any worse than some of the horrible gaffs the real guys have made. The only noticeable difference to me was A) their time management was timid and they often got bogged down on trivial shit like getting the chains set correctly; and B) they were subjected to ridiculous levels of abuse and disrespect by players and coaches. If you feel the NFL was coddling these guy, I think it was the opposite. They should have been greenlighted to eject people like John Fox and Harbaugh and toss players out left and right. If they had done that, the shit would have died down quickly and the "integrity" of the game would not have been questioned.