Official Pats/Colts Postgame thread

[Ian]

Please keep all postgame reaction in this thread please. I'd rather not see 10 "Fire Belichick" threads in the forum or whatever other nonsense I'm sure will appear in here.

[crypto]

I have come to despise fans who habitually blame the officials. If my team loses, it is my team's fault, not the officials. Are there bad calls? Yes. Do they land on both teams? Absolutely. Pre-game jokes and rants about the refs and the RCA Dome and all that are fine by me, but post-game I have no patience for it, barring very rare and extreme circumstances.

The Patriots killed themselves tonight. Maroney's fumble was ... well, a fumble. Pees' prissy bend-but-don't-break scheme toward the end of the game was a horrible plan against a guy who is currently—I hate to say it, but currently—the AFC's best quarterback in the clutch. Belichick's fourth down call was, needless to say, one hundred percent idiotic. I don't remember him ever pulling this hysteria between 2001 and 2006. Snapping the ball through your own end zone for a safety? Fine. But this is inexcusable.

The pass/run playcalling was just as bad. Faulk is great, but he's a situational player. With Taylor and Morris injured and BJGE apparently not a factor, Maroney is your man. Give him the ball. He will not play well with thirteen snaps. Just like in the 06 playoffs, the lack of a run game in the second half was devastating. Again, inexcusable.

So, yes, I'm very frustrated with the coaches' boneheaded management of this game. They put the nail in their own coffin.

But more than all that pin-headed BS, the pass interference call on the Pats' defense late in the fourth quarter was the singular factor in New England's loss. Twenty or thirty free yards for the Colts. From what I saw, the defender—I don't even remember who he was—his helmet grazed the receiver's shin. The flag came well after the end of the play. I have never seen such blatantly warped judgment by the officials in my admittedly short span as an NFL fan. But I have seen enough such garbage by the officials that, while I'm not going to complain speculatively about stacking the odds for or against certain teams, I am beginning to lose interest in the league as a form of entertainment. It is sickening to see this travesty of an officiating crew continually ruin games with such obviously biased calls. Again. And again. And again.

Ugh.

[Marqui]

I dont even know what to say.

[Joker]

I posted pre-game that I didn't expect anything out of the refs in this game and I was right...experience has taught me this...that notwithstanding,we should have won this game and easily ,ahead by 13 with under 4 to play

[aurakilla]

kill maroney

they get 3 there instead of a fumble............they win but noooo FUMBLE

[Scooter_McGruder]

Agreed. Pure BS. The defender and the receiver both have a right to the ball when it's in the air. Butler was watching the ball the whole time... THE WHOLE TIME. He has a right to try and make a play on the ball. It's not his fault the ball was underthrown. That was just as much "interference" on Collie as it was on Butler. Horrible, horrible call.

[Patspsycho]

Not going to fire BB, that's ridiculous.

9 out of 10 times he is going to make a great decision.

Without looking at this in retrospect, what would you go for? Two more yards to end the game, or give the ball back with almost two minutes remaining?

Before people throw themselves out the window, we still have control of the division.

[RyanP421]

Belichick's decision to go for it wasn't a bad one if you think about it.

[BradyBranch39]

The decision to go for it doesn't bother me all that much. Not having any time outs does. As do the refs on the PI call and the Faulk spot.

[Joker]

poor Maroney on this board this week

it's much worse if he fumbles in a playoff game in January...hope this is a leaning experience for him