This is my first post at this site, but the poor officiating in this game has compelled me to comment. I am not trying to make excuses for the Pats, they should have overcome the bad callas rather then be consumed by them. That is on them, no one else. Before I get to this I want to say that the Broncos won this game. Part of being a great football team is making the most of the opportunities that are presented to you, it is how the Patriots have remained great for such a long period of time. In this game, when presented with opportunities, the Broncos made the most of them every time. For that, I tip my cap and say well done, and good luck for the future.
But, there were four horrible, game changing penalties that helped ruin the Pats chances in this game and caused significant shifts in momentum towards the Broncos. The first occurred when Champ Bailey almost ripped Andre Davis’s helmet off after Brady’s first big completion (check the game tape, this did happen. If someone disagrees, please let me know why, I thought I clearly saw Baily grabbing the face mask and ripping Davis’s helmet up, but maybe I am mistaken). Davis should have been yelling for a face mask penalty, but he seemed a bit stunned after the catch, so probably did not think about it. Now, instead of having 1st and 10 on the 25, the Pats started at the 40, which made it that much more difficult to score a TD. Maybe the Pats would not have scored a TD, but you can’t convince me it did not affect the play of the game somewhat. Maybe the Bronco’s defense would have been more discouraged after a penalty like that on top of the completion, maybe the crowd would have been taken even more out of it. Plus, maybe Bailey is not as aggressive as the game wears on with the refs watching him closer after such a vicious play. Maybe I am completely wrong, but that was a huge non-call on the ref’s part.
Faulk’s fumble was a good play by the defense taking advantage of a Pats player who has always had questionable hands. However, the Pats still had a good opportunity to stuff the Broncos and force a punt before the half. The pass interference call should not have been made for three reasons. First, the Bronco’s wide receiver was obviously grabbing Samuel and either stopping him from making a play on the ball or trying to get him out of the way so he could make a play. This is clear offensive pass interference. However, we’ll give Denver the benefit of the doubt and say Samuel also made significant enough contact for the defense to have been called for pass interference as well. Second, the ball was uncatchable from the position the players were in. The players were moving towards the left hand side of the endzone, heading out of bounds while the ball clearly sailed much to far to the right for the Bronco’s player to ever make a play on the ball (especially since the Bronco’s receiver made absolutely no move towards the ball). Third, the call was made at least 4 seconds after the play by a referee out of position to make the call. The referee, who was standing no more then five feet away from the play did not even reach for his flag. It was only after the referee on the other side of the field realized that the ref closest was not going to make a call that he decided to throw a flag. That flag should have been overruled immediately by the ref closest to the play, but it was not. Bronco’s ball on the one, touchdown. That gave the Bronco’s the lead just before half, which was certainly a Pats momentum killer and forced them to have to come from behind out of the gates second half, significantly changing the type of game the Pats could have played (less pressured to make plays, the Pats may not have had as many turnovers). Instead the ref’s took the game out of the hands of the players and made a horrible call.
Hobbs’ fumble was as surprising as it was horrible, especially since it was the kicker who knocked the ball loose (Though Hobbs would never have handled the ball in that situation had the pass interference call not been made). Damn fine play for a kicker though, perfect position for the tackle. The subsequent field goal should not have happened though, since the Bronco’s were clearly offside on the field goal attempt. This would have pushed them back five more yards and either would have forced another field goal that had less of a chance of going through, or would have forced a Bronco’s punt (since the previous field goal had barely made it, punting probably would have been the best option, especially since there was still time left on the clock for Brady to manufacture a quick field goal drive had the field goal missed). With that said, Elam is a hell of a kicker and Shanahan was playing to win, so I would not have been surprised if they tried and made the field goal again. Still, the refs are always right on with offensive offsides, even the slightest movement almost always results in a flag. But there was no flag here, which meant at least two refs dropped the ball. Instead of having a 3 point lead, the Pats were down seven, and playing from behind the rest of the way, which I know played a part in the turnovers, regardless of how poorly the Pats executed.
The fourth call was the Bailey interception run back for a touchdown. Let’s forget the fact that Brady doesn’t make that throw if he didn’t feel pressured to make something happen being behind, caused by the three horrible calls in the first half. Bailey made a great reactive play to a horrible pass, and then made a terrific run almost for a touchdown. Watson made an equally amazing play coming across the field to force the ball out right before Bailey crossed. Now, I personally can go either way on this call, it is really hard to tell whether the ball went past the goal line in bounds, though I am not sure this matters all that much since the line extends to infinity and the ball landed out of bounds past the goal line. That is hard call for a ref to make, so I can understand the call they made. However, if the call had gone the other way, and it was ruled Pats ball, it would not have been reversed on replay. This is not so much a terrible call, but a borderline call that went the Bronco’s way. After the blatantly anti-Pats penalty follies in the first half, this call becomes immediately suspect to me. It could have gone either way, but the refs chose the Broncos, just as they had the entire game.
Am I saying there is a conspiracy? No, most assuredly no. But I do believe Bill Simmons’ maxim about bad refs, the home crowd always sways their opinion. The penalty calling clearly swayed in the Broncos direction, and it is the NFL’s fault for having such a crappy crew for such an important game.
With that said, good luck Denver, you have a tough, opportunistic team, and you’ll be able to run the ball better against Indy then you were against us. Get ahead early, keep Jake from having to win, and you’ll be Super Bowl bound.
