Posted on 11/19/2013 8:08:13 AM PST by AngelesCrestHighway
The New England Patriots lost to the Carolina Panthers 24-20 after a controversial ending on Monday Night Football. On the final play of the game, an official threw a flag after Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly appeared to interfere with New England tight end Rob Gronkowski in the end zone. If the pass interference penalty was called, the Patriots would have had one untimed play from the one-yard line to win the game. But the officials ended up picking up the flag, declaring the game over, and running off the field without an explanation. Tom Brady was furious after the game, chasing down the officials and cursing them out in the tunnel. There was a ton of confusion about this. ESPN's in-house refereeing consultant said it wasn't pass interference, but everyone else seemed to think it was a clear penalty.
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Let’s not lose sight of the fact that even if the call was made, NE had only one play to score and a 50/50 chance of losing anyway.
For some of us at least, it’s not about whether the Patriots win, it’s about the absurdity of the call, and its inconsistency with decades of prior calls.
The Panthers last scoring drive was extended by another bad call, but it was a relatively common bad call when a receiver successfully fools the refs so it falls within the normal gray area of “ that’s the way it goes”. That picking up of the flag on the last play was a different animal and stands by itself regardless of the outcome of the game.
The Panthers played a good game, and Newton made some excellent throws and a couple of ridiculous runs. Smith completely got in Talibs head and denatured him. Win or loss it was an excellent game - and would have been an amazing comeback for the Patriots to win down by 4 with 55 seconds at their own 20 against one of the best defenses in the league.
Excellent point — I hadn’t heard that. Adds even more fuel to the fire.
The ball, just like a player, is in bounds until it/he touches the ground out of bounds. Why is that challenging to understand?
I think hes referring to a receiver making a catch at the back (or side) of the endzone with his body in bounds even if the ball isnt.
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If the ball has not touched out of bounds, it is in bounds. Just like a player. Any inconsistency noted seems to be based on that fundamental misunderstanding.
The player, or the ball, is in bounds until it/he touches out of bounds.
It’s really pretty simply from where I sit.
Nope. The call was correct. Home filed had nothing to do with it. You can’t interfere with an pass that is not catchable. To say otherwise is just wrong.
Thank you. One hundred percent correct.
Gronk could have made a move toward the ball but it still would have been short. Still not catchable.
Not to worry. Manning will shred NE secondary.
Expect Brady whine to escalate to 10 plus.
Sort of correct. A receiver can’t change direction to occupy space already occupied by the defender (or about to be occupied due to momentum) and it be interference. The defender has a right to a spot on the field. It’s the same as if a middle linebacker is standing in one spot, the ball is thrown directly toward him and then the intended receiver runs into him. Patriot whiners would have us believe that is pass interference.
In this instance, the call was probably correct IMO, but had the situation been reversed (in that highly charged atmosphere) I don’t believe the outcome would have been the same. Would you want to be the ref that ended Carolina’s drive to the end zone at the last second? That call would not have had a happy ending.
Hometown calls are a fact in sports.
I wonder if Brady will get fined for his cussing at the officials and on national TV?....................
More often than not, it is called pass interference on the defense. The officials need to crack down on this, as it's becoming a tactic to intentionally underthrow a receiver who comes back to the ball through the defender, and picks up a pass interference call for a cheap big gain as the defender can't change direction fast enough to avoid the collision.
And Brady will shred Denver’s defense which in no way compares to Carolina’s.
Carolina, Points Against 135
Denver, Points Against 255
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/standings
At least the Broncos finally defeated a team with a winning record in the Chiefs, Dallas may have had a winning record too when the Broncos defeated them.
“Gronk could have made a move toward the ball but it still would have been short. Still not catchable.”
The ball was caught waist-high within (long) arm reach to the side of the spot Gronkowski was shoved out of. As a matter of fact, the defender who caught the ball’s last step - with his left foot- was at the same spot along the right edge of the “L” in Carolina, as Gronkowski’s had been when the interference began.
Actually a little above waist-high for Gronkowski. For the defender, it hit him in the upper part of the numbers as he leapt a bit.
Calls like this happen all the time without all the whining. Did he really think that anything would change, did he think that the ref was going to change his mind because he was the quarterback of the patriots?
Suck it up, it is not the last time this will ever happen. Some people think they are more important than they really are, in a week almost nobody will care what the call was.
Looks like a bad call, those happen more in the last 2 minutes, maybe they need to rely on the cameras more. This should be remedied, I’m definitely not for the Patriots but it is always more important to see a fairly called game.
The refs need to be consistent and perhaps they are being consistent in not calling this in the last 2 minutes as they let a lot of things go.
Pass defense, #5 Carolina, #28 Denver
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