Mike Felger on his show, Felger & Mazz, states the the NFL did an extremely poor job in preparing for NFL games without the usual referees.
They could have fired them all in the offseason, hired Division I refs, and trained them to do the jobs that these replacement referees can't do, according to Felger.
"It's not the most well run league in the world, it's just the most popular. And there's a difference," Felger says.