Irrespective of whether people are saying that the calls were wrong, or quite simply that the rules are wrong, New England fans have unanimously declared these analysts idiots whom they've never liked.
Most of what I've seen has been people criticizing the rule as it's written. That's fair. I'm not a huge fan of the rules as they stand either--not when they're called against us, and not when they're called for us--but anyone who's arguing that those calls weren't made according to the rulebook is wrong, and nobody has credibly argued that yet. And even though I don't like the rules as they stand, but I understand why they're there. QBs, kickers, and punters are the most defenseless players on the field, both because their job requires them to leave themselves exposed and it's the opposing defense's job to hit them while they're exposed. The NFL consistently protects players who are required to expose themselves like that, including defensive players (chop block).
Anyone who's claiming that the refs outright favored the Pats either didn't watch the game or can't count. Both teams were flagged nine times, and both teams had touchdown drives that should not have happened if not for incorrect calls. The Pats got screwed by the QB helmet rule just as badly as the Ravens did. I'll agree with you that the officiating was iffy, probably because Winters sucks, but it wasn't biased. They made and missed crucial calls for both teams, and they completely blew the fake-FG first down call because it didn't even matter if he got the first down. It was an illegal shift, and Baker caught the ball, and therefore the play was over and the penalty was assessed. According to the rules, that's the end of the play, so whether or not Baker got the first down doesn't matter- there was no play. Crap like that is why I think Winters sucks, not some imagined bias.
And yeah, of the fans and members of the sports 'media' who are criticizing the calls, and not the rules themselves, just about all of them clearly media didn't watch the game, are incorrectly recounting what happened, and don't even know the relevant rules in the first place. So yeah, they're wrong. I don't care if everyone on ESPN thinks the Ravens got jobbed, because none of them even know what the rules in the rulebook are in the first place, so why would their opinion on hose rules were called matter?
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