OT: Officiating in Packers-Saints game

I think you're correct in saying that the NFL rulebook lends itself to controversical calls by its structure really. Many of the rules are essentially brief, general defitions with several common examples followed by what the suggested call would be in that example. It leads to some items in the rulebook actually being oversimplified, in my opinion, and while I understand that they don't want officials having to read and comprehend a multi-volume treatise on just what constitutes a "dead ball", for example, the rules do lend themselves much to the understanding (or misunderstanding) of the individual official. 

That being said, and to actually add to your statement as well as what Clarance Beeks mentioned (I hope I am talking about the right play), there just happens to be an example given under "incomplete pass" which almost perfectly fits the "complete incomplete pass" call which had Packers fans at boiling point, and rightly so. It describes a situation  where a receiver takes hold of a ball, but loses possession (or alternatively, "fails to secure") the catch before hitting the ground. By the book, that's an incomplete pass (Article 4, A.R 8.9 is more or less what happened on the play), and indeed, if there is any uncertainty, which clearly there was, it should have been ruled incomplete by the book. While there are grey areas, there are also times when it is almost literally in the book and it still gets blown. 

Indeed, this lends credences to the terrible lack of consistency in NFL officiating, as you point out.