Now upon further review ...

Here's the deal, football fans: NFL officials are going to mess up. Calls will be missed. Others will be made that shouldn't have been.

Even the league knows that - and it wants to make sure you remember, too.

"Certainly there have been some calls we wish had not caused so much attention," NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson said in a telephone interview Friday. "When things are going 100 mph, at game speed and with game pressure, sometimes mistakes are going to be made. When it comes to officiating, fans apparently tend to be less forgiving."

Thanks to a handful of eyebrow-raising calls in these playoffs, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's mention of a proposal to start hiring some game officials as full-time employees, the men in black-and-white striped shirts are a topic of conversation heading into the Ravens-Patriots and Giants-49ers conference championship games Sunday.

"We're never completely satisfied. We certainly think we can do better, and are certainly hoping all the crews remaining will do better in the games upcoming," Anderson said. "We want to make sure that the whole officiating body is performing at the highest level. We would prefer to have calls ... not take center stage for the entire next week."

Or longer.

Mike Pereira was NFL vice president of officiating from 2001-09, and nothing ate at him more than the prospect of a blown call in the Big Game.

“That’s always a concern. The eyes of the world are upon you. The Super Bowl is clearly your most important game for a lot of reasons, including how officiating is going to be perceived,” Pereira said. “I went through all those Super Bowls where, I mean, I sat in the operations booth and I was nervous as a cat, because you know you’re in the spotlight, and you just beg not to be a part of the discussion when the game is over.”

In the Giants’ 37-20 upset of the reigning champion Packers last weekend, there were a couple of rulings that stood out: A phantom blow-to-the-head penalty on New York defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora, and a “He fumbled the ball; no, wait, he didn’t; upon further review, we’ll stick with no fumble” call on a play involving Green Bay receiver Greg Jennings.

Both benefited the Packers and both baffled plenty of observers.

The Jennings call drew the most notice.

“I thought the officiating was really on a roll, and then it got to the game in Green Bay. And that obviously painted a different picture,” said Pereira, who appears on Fox’s NFL telecasts. “You had a lack of a replay reversal that 99 percent of the country, including me, thought would be reversed.”

And yet, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said, “I doubt there will be any explanation at all” from the league.

Among other curious calls this postseason were the whistle that brought action to a halt before the Lions got a chance to return a fumble in their 45-28 loss to the Saints, and a lateral by the Steelers mistakenly thought to be an incomplete forward pass in their 29-23 overtime loss to the Broncos.

The good news for the league is the outcome of those games weren’t affected. But there have been other, more pivotal, officiating decisions in postseasons past.

One example: This week marks the 10th anniversary of the “Tuck Rule Game,” when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady appeared to fumble the football in the last two minutes while trailing the Oakland Raiders, who recovered. Eventually, it was ruled an incomplete pass; New England retained possession, tied the score, and wound up winning in overtime.

Brees confident deal will be reached: Drew Brees has spent the past six years reinvigorating the Saints, rewriting NFL records and rebuilding New Orleans.

His contract may be expiring, but the Big Easy’s biggest sports star doesn’t see himself changing teams any time soon.

Brees said he would be “beyond stunned” if he and the Saints are unable to agree on a contract extension during this offseason, echoing comments by coach Sean Payton this week.

The former Super Bowl MVP added he doesn’t believe his next deal will prevent the Saints from bidding for some other key members of their record-setting offense who will become free agents, including Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks and receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem.

49ers plan for soggy weather: Offensive lineman Adam Snyder and 49ers special teams standout Blake Costanzo sat side by side in outdoor ice tubs, each sporting a beanie to keep his head warm while playing with their respective cellphones.

“I don’t know why they do that outside, torture,” rookie fullback Bruce Miller quipped after observing the duo on one of the colder days this winter.

Those are Jim Harbaugh’s kind of guys, tough to the core, ice in their veins. He wants his players ready for whatever weather comes this weekend — cold, rain and wind.

“The only thing we have to fear is being unprepared,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh hoped for precipitation this week, and he got it — just not enough to satisfy the San Francisco coach who wanted his team to practice on a soggy field ahead of Sunday’s NFC championship game against the New York Giants.

Philbin accepts Dolphins job: A month of wrenching emotion for Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin took another turn when he landed the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching job.

The deal was sealed less than two weeks after Philbin’s 21-year-old son drowned in an icy Wisconsin river. The Dolphins confirmed the hiring in a news release and plan a news conference today.

Philbin, who has never been a head coach, first interviewed with Miami on Jan. 7. The body of son Michael, one of Philbin’s six children, was recovered the next day in Oshkosh.

Rams crossing Atlantic: The St. Louis Rams took the first step to becoming Britain’s “home” team, agreeing to play a regular-season NFL game in London in each of the next three seasons.

And first up are the New England Patriots, who are two wins from another Super Bowl title.

The Rams and Patriots meet at Wembley on Oct. 28, about two months after the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. That will be followed by games at Wembley against undetermined opponents in 2013 and 2014.