Best quote from the article:
A couple of years ago, Tomlinson famously protested the manner in which the Patriots celebrated on the Qualcomm field after beating the favored Chargers in the playoffs. Perhaps he was expecting a chant of "2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate ..." Whatever the case, it sounded like whining then.
It sounds a little like whining now.
The Chargers do have a right to be miffed, but referees are only human and to err is human. Tell me, Mr. LDT, that you never made a mistake. Tell me, Mr. Turner, ... well it's not even worth asking in your case.
As with the tuck rule call "against" the Raiders in the 2001 AFC Championship Game, this call did not decide the game.
In 2001, the call (which we of course now know was universally confirmed as correct by league officials and others in the know) only gave the Pats a second chance. The Raiders still had the chance to stop the drive - several times, and couldn't do it. The game was then tied and went to overtime, wherein the Raiders had another chance to prevent the Pats from scoring the winning points and failed to do so. Yet how many Raiders players, or fans blame their own defense for that loss?
It was the same Sunday with the Chargers. Denver still had to score a TD from 3rd and goal at the nine - a FG did them no good - and then they actually gave SD a more than fair chance (IMHO) to win in regulation by going for the 2 point conversion. Once again, the SD defense failed to stop them.
So stop your whining and go and make some plays on the field. Thems the breaks. They go for, and against, everyone, given enough time.
And one final point for Mr. Classy: the officials
are accountable. As has been widely reported, the league keeps stats on every official, and it has a bearing not only on their assignment to playoff games, but even to their continued employment. I wish I could say the same about baseball umpires.