The Case Of The Disappearing Flag
Alright, I'm a football fan and so I'm gonna blog about football on occasion.
I watched a great back-and-forth Monday Night Football game last night, and I feel like I was robbed of a truly dramatic ending.
Long story short, for those who didn't watch:
New England Patriots are down 24-20 to the Carolina Panthers, and ran an amazing drive about 75 yards in under a minute.
Patriots tight end, and resident part monster Rob Gronkowski was clearly interfered with (bearhugged, actually) in the end zone on the last play of the game.
The referee standing right behind him threw a penalty flag.
Another referee ran in from the other side of the field and told him to pick up the flag.
They said the game was over, and offered no explanation.
Now, there's no guarantee that Tom Brady could have gotten his guys into the end zone on one last play from either the 1 yard line, or the 13 yard line (depending on whether the intended penalty call was for Pass Interference or Holding).
But they should have had that last chance.
Yes, I'm a Pats fan.
I'm also attentive enough to know that, had The Pats executed some things better earlier in the game (a red zone fumble and their poor last defensive stand come to mind), then they wouldn't have been relying on making magic happen on the last play of the game.
Still, we should have gotten an ending worthy of how great the rest of that game was.
But, hey, a ton of injuries on defense coupled with a homefield screwjob ref call and The Pats still very nearly beat a very good Panthers team.
All-in-all, they're still in a good spot. And the game next week against Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos should produce another instant classic.
Hopefully, The Pats do those little things better in that game and get the win.
Also, the game is in New England, so if anyone gets screwed by the refs it should be The Broncos.
I watched a great back-and-forth Monday Night Football game last night, and I feel like I was robbed of a truly dramatic ending.
Long story short, for those who didn't watch:
New England Patriots are down 24-20 to the Carolina Panthers, and ran an amazing drive about 75 yards in under a minute.
Patriots tight end, and resident part monster Rob Gronkowski was clearly interfered with (bearhugged, actually) in the end zone on the last play of the game.
The referee standing right behind him threw a penalty flag.
Another referee ran in from the other side of the field and told him to pick up the flag.
They said the game was over, and offered no explanation.
Now, there's no guarantee that Tom Brady could have gotten his guys into the end zone on one last play from either the 1 yard line, or the 13 yard line (depending on whether the intended penalty call was for Pass Interference or Holding).
But they should have had that last chance.
Yes, I'm a Pats fan.
I'm also attentive enough to know that, had The Pats executed some things better earlier in the game (a red zone fumble and their poor last defensive stand come to mind), then they wouldn't have been relying on making magic happen on the last play of the game.
Still, we should have gotten an ending worthy of how great the rest of that game was.
But, hey, a ton of injuries on defense coupled with a homefield screwjob ref call and The Pats still very nearly beat a very good Panthers team.
All-in-all, they're still in a good spot. And the game next week against Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos should produce another instant classic.
Hopefully, The Pats do those little things better in that game and get the win.
Also, the game is in New England, so if anyone gets screwed by the refs it should be The Broncos.
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