10. Champ Bailey's magic fumble
It was the play that ended the Patriots dynasty. But it shouldn't have. When New England tight end Benjamin Watson made his incredible dash from the opposite side of the field to crush Champ Bailey at the 1-yard line after a 100-yard interception return, the ball exited the field of play at an angle, crossing over the pylon before landing out of bounds. Had referee Jeff Triplette heard and heeded analyst Phil Simms' astute advice — make a direct line from where the ball landed back to where it was fumbled to determine where it went out — it would have been New England ball at the 20. Instead, Triplette took the easy way out, basically awarding the home team a TD by giving them the ball at the 1. It was the second touchdown the officials had generously awarded to the Broncos. More on that later.
8. Andre' Davis gets mugged on no-call
Back to Denver. There were a lot of bad calls and bad no-calls in the Pats-Broncos game, but one that got almost no attention came on the Patriots' fifth and final turnover. Yes, Tom Brady was making a desperation heave into triple coverage and, yes, the ball probably deserved to be picked. But that doesn't excuse what happened next and the no-call that went with it. While Denver safety John Lynch measured the flight of the ball lining up his interception, a teammate simply tackled intended receiver Andre' Davis. Now Davis wasn't going to make a catch on the play, but had he not been tackled, he could have at least broken up the pick. The game was pretty much over at that point so it wasn't that big a deal. But when you compare the no-call to a pass interference call made earlier in the game, it's staggering. More on that later.
1. Oh, Asante! Oh, humanity!
The NFL offered no such they-a-culpa for Patriots fans. (Shut up, Raiders fans, the tuck rule may be a bad rule but it was interpreted correctly.) The Patriots-Broncos playoff game turned on a phantom pass interference call on Asante Samuel who despite perfect coverage — and looking back for the ball — was flagged for a 39-yard pass interference penalty that basically awarded Denver its first lead. This call led HBO's Cris Collinsworth to plead with the league that pass interference penalties have to be able to be reviewed. I repeat that plea here. How can you have these 40- and 50-yard plays determining the outcome of playoff games with no way to make sure you're getting them right?
I mean, the NFL doesn't want the officials to determine next year's champion too, does it?