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.