The Penalty That Killed
 

The Hobbs call was BS. There is no such thing as face guarding in the NFL. See link and explaination from former NFL ref. Funny...question is exactly what happened!

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....eref-headlines

Can you call pass interference on a defender if he is turned toward the wide receiver, not looking at the ball, waves his arms, but doesn't touch the wide receiver at all? Say the ball is in the air and hits the defender in the arm because he deflects the pass. Again, he doesn't touch the WR, but isn't looking at the ball either. --Dawn Polomsky, Phoenix, Ariz.

Many years ago, there was a penalty on pass plays for "face guarding." What you describe is face guarding. There is no penalty under current NFL rules for this act, unless there is physical contact. If the ball hits the defender, as you describe, the play would be legal. It is dangerous for a defender to turn his back on the direction that the ball is coming from. If he contacts the intended receiver, it would be pass interference because the defender is not playing the ball. You seldom see what you describe, but it would not be a foul.

Re: The Penalty That Killed
 

That's what I thought. They kept saying it was a good call because he was faceguarding, but I kept yelling at the TV that face guarding isn't illegal.

What a bogus, bogus call. And then to NOT call PI for Reche when he was absolutely MUGGED in the EZ? Rediculous.

Re: The Penalty That Killed
 

This is exactly what I have been talking about in my post.....

Re: The Penalty That Killed
 

It's very frustrating that the refs gave the Colts a couple freebies, but the Patriots simply didn't play well enough in the second half to win the game. That's really the bottom line.

I felt that the failure to score points in that drive right before the half, and the Colts two long drives right before and after the half, really changed the game. Instead of 24 or 28 to 3 it was then 21 to 6 and they had the ball first and drove for a TD.

That change right before the half (6 to 10 point swing) changed the whole face of the game and ultimately led to the loss. If the Patriots had put up at least three on that drive we'd be talking about our chances in the SB right now.

This drive is what blew the game:

After that punt the Colts went on a 15 play scoring drive to end the half with a FG, then started the second half with a 14 play TD drive. Those back to back defensive series destroyed the game. But if the offense had not screwed up prior to those two drives, we'd have been looking at 24-3 or 28-3 and a much different ballgame.

The two penalties that took us out of scoring position, and then Tom Brady taking a sack to avoid turning the ball over instead of stepping into the pocket and making a play or trying to throw the ball away is really what killed us. The offense screwed up once, and then the defense caved in.

People blast the offense, but they'd been carrying the game until those mistakes. The DEFENSE caved the first time the offense really needed them to step up. They go from a pick six to allowing a combined 29 straight plays that swung ten points in the favor of the Colts and set the D up to be exhausted the rest of the game.

From that point on the offense played poorly and so did the defense. The whole team imploded except for Ellis on his kickreturn.

Re: The Penalty That Killed
 

The Hobbs PI call wasn't as bad as the Caldweell-Hayden non-PI call.

If you face guard, you run the risk of getting a PI. The ref can't always tell if you touch the receiver. Granted, the Colts would have had to settle for a field goal there.

But Caldwell was mauled in the end one. That should have been PI right there. And then on a crucial third down, Graham was hit before the ball got there.

Re: The Penalty That Killed
 

I still think the Patriots have to make other plays to win the game, but I agree with this wholeheartedly. That was a HORRENDOUS non-call, and if the roles were reversed, no WAY does the ref eat the flag.

Re: The Penalty That Killed
 

On WEEI, BB just called some of the stuff that moved the Pats back on their final drive of the 1st half "questionable," while the rest was the Pats' fault.