Posted on 01/21/2007 7:25:56 PM PST by elhombrelibre
Indianapolis 38, New England 34
Sadly, the refs once again made themselves part of the story in the playoffs.
As a Pats fan, I thought the game was officiated very well. I cannot think of a call one way or the other that should have been contested, except for a roughing the passer that I did not feel was warranted, and a clear pass interference that was not called. But those things don't bother me because that stuff happens no matter what, no matter what team you root for.
I thought the officials did very well.
LOL...some people around here think that is the appropriate response...and more...:)
I did notice something...I don't know if anyone took notice of it or not. When Manning was going over to offer his, er...um...condolences, he made a point of taking off the Conference Championship baseball cap that someone had just put on his head.
I thought that was a heads up, considerate thing to do. Made me think very highly of him. Did anyone else see that?
People need to wrap their heads around a very simple thing for Bill when he's on or near the field. He's thinking about football, nothing but football, he's not out there to be friendly, he's not out there to impress people with his graciousness, or his fashion sense or anything else. He's out there to be a football coach, and when you're at his level of monofocalness there's always some football to think about. One game is over the next is on the horizon, one season is over the next is on the horizon, that's how Bill is. So anybody being suprised at his behavior should just get over it, that's how he's been for his entire career, short and abrupt during all post game activities. The day Bill actually goes and hangs out on the field after the game to talk to people is the day Bill has decided to retire from the game.
I bet you'd rather play the Colts.. the Patriots were too physical for Chicago earlier this year.
I assume you mean Banta-Cain's roughing the passer call . . . Manning didn't even get dirty on that play!
Manning is a classy guy. He's over-exposed in commercials that set new levels of cheese-i-tude, but he's a classy guy.
Which, in almost every circle on earth, will get you classified as a "classless jerk". (I should know. I behave very similarly in most situations... and am often regarded with similar opinions.)
But it's good that you know him and love him for what he is. Sorry to those who dislike the label.
I think that was the one. The pass interference looked pretty obvious to me, but if the Pats hadn't let them get back into it, it would not have made much of an impact.
Also, it seemed like an early missed interference call againts the Pats caused the refs to start making a few "make-up" calls later in the game (to keep it close, perhaps???). Despite being a dedicated Colts fan, some of the flags definitely had that feel to them.
It only gets you labeled like that because we've become so touchy feely as a society. Most of the greats of yester-year had no time for midfield hugs after the game, they aren't paid by their team to yap with the other team after the game. Used to be all post game friendliness was out of the public eye, in some restaurant. Ever since the "Mangini incident" in the regular season everybody has been obsessing on Bill's midfield post game behavior, like it should matter to anybody.
The total score is close to the toll of dead in the latest Baghdad bombing.
Yup. The big question was "were Gaffney's feet inbounds when he leaped for the ball." They were, or at least there was no conclusive footage to show they weren't.
Who was the Patriots "receiver" who dropped two gimme passes, one of which would have been for a TD? They might want to put that goat out to pasture.
He never actually stepped out and it appeared his heels were up and not on the end line before he went up for the ball.
(Oddly enough, most of them think this was a "rebuilding year"!! How's THAT for a smack in the face, Oakland, 'Frisco, Detroit, et al?)
Since Brady took far less money than Manning (despite the rings and the playoff record), the Pats have about $25 million in cap room AND two first-round picks in April, so they certainly have options.
Um, how was Belichick looking at Peyton when his head was turned the other way? Did he have eyes in the back of his head or something?
What should they do . . . strip off their shirts and make out?
Spare me. Could it have killed Belichick to make eye contact with Peyton and shake his hand? It's called being a good sportsman.
No bitterness I assure you. I am not a Colts fan nor a Pats fan and my dog was left on the porch before the playoff fight got started. I have grown up competing in little leagues and scholastic sports and played more competitive football (as well as baseball, basketball and swimming) than you would imagine and I call it the way I see it. Patriot fans have a tendency to boast their superiority when they win and manage to find plenty of excuses when they lose (injuries, refereeing, etc...) Comments that I have seen on these threads from other Patriot fans such as "Well Peyton hasn't won anything but Tom Brady has three rings" (None of which, btw, helped him yesterday) point to nothing but sour grapes. I just didn't want to see a fair-minded individual such as yourself fall in to the same trap ;-)
The Colts were not hitting on all cylinders as demonstrated by their first half performance and even after they found their groove, the Pats missed quite a few opportunities (dropped passes, long kick-off returns, 3rd and shorts, inopportune penalties, etc...) to slap the Colts back down. Even the best teams have bad games against weaker opponents. They had a huge lead (by championship game standards) and they lost.
Tom Brady's interception at the end was not the reason they lost. They blew the game on defense because they weren't prepared for the no-huddle offense. The fact that Brady and his offense missed a few key plays compounded the problem by giving the ball back to Manning and leaving the Pats defense on the field.
Nobody is saying that the Patriots are bad, they just blew a huge lead in the most important game to this point in the season. In short, they choked.
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