The blown whistle play might not have been a huge gain

Watch it closely...Darby recovers pretty quickly and is just about at arm's length from Amendola when he also hears the whistle and then lets up. I think it's unlikely, though possible, that Amendola would have broken free of him at that point. At the very least, he had a good shot at tackling DA, if nothing else. It's easy to look at the play and think Amendola was already breaking free, but again, watch very closely. Darby is really closing in and then just stops in his tracks. Even had he not been able to get him immediately, it would have been a footrace, and Darby runs a 4.38 and would have the advantage of being the pursuer.

Just saying...I heard the broadcaster say about 50 times that the Patriots were robbed of a 70 yard TD. I can see someone arguing they think DA would have broken it, but it certainly wasn't a sure thing.

Clip is below:

Officials Blow Inadvertent Whistle On Completed Pats Pass, Then Screw Up Ruling

That's how I saw it live he was beat but clearly gave up when the whistle blew. plus I wasn't that pissed cause the gave us the catch and the penalty. Could have wound up as down doesn't count redo.

I'm on the fence about this. I agree with what you're saying but part of me thinks Amendola would have shaked the tackle off.

https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/3C...p4?versionId=Tur4N7p09e5sVNk_IJqzD5vIVRrh0PNg
Preposterous "whistle"...even more preposterous "Darby would have made the tackle!!!!" gaa gaa goonyism. I was THERE. That was a sure TD or at least three points. You surrender monkey "Pats fans" are ridiculous with your constant agreeing with what is OBVIOUSLY an NFL sham show.

Yep. Darby was in prime position to make that tackle, but gave up on the play when the whistle blew. Isn't that what players are supposed to do? There is no question about it. I've seen the play 20 times. The Patriots actually benefited from that "inadvertent" whistle when you consider the 15-yard penalty that wound up being tacked on the end.

Darby is the forerunner to make Defensive Rookie of the Year, and can easily make that tackle in that situation. He was closing in on Amendola before the ball ever got to him...not even a yard from him, and the ball had not yet arrived. Amendola had to pull a 180 before even turning upfield too, as he was facing toward his own end zone. The tackle was pretty much a done-deal, or as close as you can get to that. Tirico and Gruden were acting like Darby was a non-entity or something. Perhaps they were confused.

I don't remember seeing anything quite like this before. I mean, the whistle blew while the ball was still in the air. I thought the play was over without exception when the whistle blows. That's the part that confuses me...how was that ruled a catch at all, even though it should have been. How many times have you seen it where a ref blows the whistle too soon, like right before a legitimate fumble? They always say that the play was called dead, and it's not a fumble because the whistle is like God. I don't see how this is much different. Again, I'm not sure I've seen anything like this before.

Or maybe the real question is how anybody can inadvertently blow a whistle. I'd be willing to make a bet that, if somebody gave me a whistle, I would never blow it accidentally.

Time for full-time refs. Don't think these guys knew what they were doing throughout that fiasco of a play. Just made it up as they went along.

That was the loudest booing I've heard at Gillette in years.

Inadvertent whistle cuts Patriots' big play short - NFL Videos

You're nuts. Amendola had already beat Darby and had the whole sideline with one defender to beat.

Or it might have...

Joker said:

You're nuts. Amendola had already beat Darby and had the whole sideline with one defender to beat.

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Amendolma got open briefly, but he only beat him upfield after the catch because Darby stopped at the whistle.

The whistle was blown when the ball was still in the air, with no doubt. Considering that, it shouldn't have been ruled a catch at all. This is not my opinion, it's a fact.

Watch it again if you DVRed it.

The refs screwed up big-time, and this is what we are left with. Should not have happened...I'm sure everyone can agree with that.

I didn't "DVR" it you nitwit...I was THERE. I saw it. Amendola had already beat Darby. Your TV perspective makes it LOOK like he was closer than he was. It was a complete robbery by an obviously corrupt ref crew. By the way, experiments were run on footballs at the Razor tonight. Readings taken inside 70 degree SUV's and then rechecked after the game was over. You idiotic haters are not going to like the results...and here's even more bad news for you scumbag blind haters...MORE readings will be taken at the NEXT home game. Here's the really bad news though, 13 PSI at 70 degrees at 7:30 PM....10.9 PSI at 12:15 am after being left outside in the air at the Razor. You haters are NOW confirmed submorons, but at least you'll always have ":wide right!"...

I think it was a makeup call.

As the replay showed, the ball was clearly still in the air so it should have been no play. And I'm sure the refs knew it, too. But they also knew that would have been massively unfair to NE so they basically took one for integrity for a change and knowingly lied about when the whistle blew so that NE could have the catch. That's why the conference was so long.

QuantumMechanic said:

I think it was a makeup call.

As the replay showed, the ball was clearly still in the air so it should have been no play. And I'm sure the refs knew it, too. But they also knew that would have been massively unfair to NE so they basically took one for integrity for a change and knowingly lied about when the whistle blew so that NE could have the catch. That's why the conference was so long.

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It was like that commercial where the refs know they all missed the call, so they conspire to just make something up, but the mic is live.

It's the NFL clown show, where corruption meets incompetence in the defense of integrity.

The current management of this league is going to destroy the sport forthe future.

Rex blocked the line judges view.

Ryan was like an extra Referee out there all night long.

The Refs may have also blown (no pun) the make up call because some think that the whistle was blown before Almendola caught the ball. In that case the ball should have returned to the LOS and then mark off the penalty on Rex.

I'm in the camp that believes it would NOT have gone for a touchdown. Of course we'll never know BUT I think it is clear the defender stopped in the middle of the play....there is no question about that. He was in great position to make a play on the ball or make a tackle.

I do get the sense that the refs believe they screwed the Patriots though, which is why they perhaps intentionally misremembered the sequence of events and awarded them the catch (even though the whistle was blown with the ball in the air). Then when they mentioned the personal foul I thought that was a made up penalty as well to compromise for the refs mistake.

It looked like a big gain for a good chance of beating the safety for a touchdown. Maybe the defender let up too early, maybe the safety would have caught him; we'll never know.

Rex Ryan definitely walked in front of the official's line of sight. That was the most blatant interference by a coach I've seen since Mike Tomlin stepped in front of a runner in a Steelers game.

Uncle Meat said:

The Patriots actually benefited from that "inadvertent" whistle when you consider the 15-yard penalty that wound up being tacked on the end.

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The penalty has nothing to do with the inadvertent whistle. So how could the Patriots benefit from it?

You guys have to acknowledge that Amendola was given the spot of the catch and he would surely have made more yards even if Darby was Usain Bolt. And those yards would have been the difference between a missed field goal and 3 points.

brdmaverick said:

I'm in the camp that believes it would NOT have gone for a touchdown. Of course we'll never know BUT I think it is clear the defender stopped in the middle of the play....there is no question about that. He was in great position to make a play on the ball or make a tackle.

I do get the sense that the refs believe they screwed the Patriots though, which is why they perhaps intentionally misremembered the sequence of events and awarded them the catch (even though the whistle was blown with the ball in the air). Then when they mentioned the personal foul I thought that was a made up penalty as well to compromise for the refs mistake.

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No personal foul.

A flag was thrown on Ryan at the end of the play--long before they conferred.

If the refs wanted to make one up, they should have called PI on the Bills on the very next play. It was PI.

The refs did the Patriots no favors. There was n way they could know when the whistle was blown.

Uncle Meat said:

Darby is the forerunner to make Defensive Rookie of the Year, and can easily make that tackle in that situation. He was closing in on Amendola before the ball ever got to him...not even a yard from him, and the ball had not yet arrived. Amendola had to pull a 180 before even turning upfield too, as he was facing toward his own end zone. The tackle was pretty much a done-deal, or as close as you can get to that. Tirico and Gruden were acting like Darby was a non-entity or something. Perhaps they were confused.

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Amendola shakes defenders before turning up field all the time, it's how he makes his money.

Uncle Meat said:

Time for full-time refs. Don't think these guys knew what they were doing throughout that fiasco of a play. Just made it up as they went along.

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Agreed.

Amendola may not have gotten a TD, but he definitely would have gotten a huge gain. At least a field goal out of that drive.