devour

We need to lose with dignity. Give the Denver Broncos credit. They forced 3 TOs and was opportunistic on the other 2 TOs. The better team won last night, no question about it. Sure the refs sucked, but if we were good enough, we would've overcome the officiating.

Michael

But, you don't get to pretend it had nothing to do with it either. 5 turnovers and 2 very bad calls that was to Denver's benefit (would have been 3 if BB didn't challenge the Plummer pick) is what killed any momentum and control the Pats had up to that first very late flag on a penalty not one expert local or national agrees with. As a matter of fact the consensus was Offensive PI. Imagine if he was not interfered with and picked the ball in the end zone. What Pats team would have come out in the second half after that? Quite possibly being up 10-0. The first fumble was a mistake, but that bogus PI call that put Denver on the 1 is what took the wind out of the Pats sails. I think the following turnovers were a direct result of trying to make big plays while playing catch up. So yes I do not discount that very bogus late flag by the official further away then an official standing right there.

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mgteich

The refs made three horrible calls in the first half
1) the no interception call (overturned)
1) the pass interference call (7 points)
2) the missed illegal procedure on the long field goal (3 points)
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But that was in the first half. I do believe that ther refs favored the pats in the second half. I thought that there could have been at least two pass interference calls that weren't called (against Hawkins and Samuel).

The interception wasn't the refs fault, but even there if they call the fumble going out through the end zone, there would have been a 7 point difference.

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Bottom line, the difference was the interception and Troy's fumble.

Richter

Forced 3 turnovers? One great pick by Champ Bailey, a pick on a desperation heave that should have resulted in pass interference, one flat out muffed punt, one dropped ball in traffic by Faulk and one ball squirting out by Hobbs when he gets hit by a kicker. Sounds more like 1.5, 2 tops that they forced. Way too many of the turnovers were flat out concentration lapses, not some great play by the Denver defense.

PATSNUTme

I've seen Champ's fumble 20+ times. It did cross the plane of the end zone and then out of bounds. Should have been Patriots ball on their 20 and no points for the Bronco's.

Michael

It was a touchback and if was called correctly would have given the Pats the ball back at their twenty. They end up scoring as a result of that and Denver doesn't get another easy 7 that's a 14 point difference. Which makes the score tied at that point.

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Fanfrom1960

That's one area where I thing baseball has its act together better than football, i.e., officiating. Baseball has salaried professional umpires, whereas football has guys paid by the game. So, you get weekend warrior refs that are "doctors, lawyers or indian chiefs" the rest of the week. The other thing is that Denver is out there by itself in the NFL, geographically speaking, so I have to wonder if you do get mostly locals (homers). In the East, potential refs can easily drive to Foxborough, NYC, Philly, or several other NFL cities from a lot of the region. Fer chrissakes, when Phil Simms and the Indy Star board immediately start in with the "BS call", well, it was. Pats would have overcome that call if they didn't turn it over so much, but who needs it, and the fact that it was sooooo friggin' late.

State

Come on, guys. The blown call even raised the dander of fair-minded CBS analyst Phil Simms. It's a call that should have never been made--unless for offensive interference.

Probably the Broncos get stopped by the stud Patriots defense and only kick a field goal. It's 3-3. Much better than 3-7.

It was almost as bad as Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton's roughing the passer penalty in 1976.

Like that, this awful call changed the complexion of the game. Remember, easy scores, which we gave plenty to the Broncos, really gets the home crowd going.

The ref doesn't make that call we don't lose by nearly as much. In fact, an argument can be made that putting the Broncos in catch-u mode would have forced them into plays that would have increased the likelihood of their making mistakes. After all, we scored first.

How many times have the Broncos been behind at home? This game was ours. We lost to an inferior team because they didn't make mistakes (except for the obvious interception by Asante Samuel--What the heck were the refs thinking on that play?) and we made five. Five.

Also, they got help by bad calls and non-calls.

Anyone else see Champ Bailey's obvious facemask on Andre' Davis on the 51-yard gainer? Or the false start on the field goal that wasn't called?

The refs tried their best--they just didn't have a very good game, either.

Next week the Broncos get their arse handed to them by the Colts (or Steelers). They. Are. Not. Very. Good.

That game turned my stomach. That late flag did too. It turned a hostile environment into more of one. Ultimate blame lies with the turnovers, but that call was a bigger deal than the fumble, as bad as that was.

dhamz

It is ridiculous that the NFL and the networks who spend all that $ producing games do not have a camera on both sides of the goaline that can give us a definitive view of whether Bailey's fumble went over the goalline or not.

I think logically that a guy who has one foot inside the 1 (his foot was about to hit the pylon) and gets hit and fumbles forward probably fumbled through the end zone but who knows. There was no camera angle that showed it so there was no way to reverse the call. In the same way, they could never have changed it if it was ruled a touchback.

Because they don't have cameras permanently set up on the goaline the critical call of a game was left to officials none of whom had a great angle because thay are running full speed.

State

I have this bad feeling that we'll see covincing footage of Champ Bailey's fumble being a touchback too late. Like today or tomorrow. From the freakin' dirigible. Why can't the blimp be useful for something other than stadium shots?

I agree on the previous post. The technology is still imperfect. That was probably a touchback. It's too bad the footage didn't include an overhead shot that would have made it certain one way or other.