Why The Patriots Got Screwed By The Non-Call At The End Of The Monday Night Game (Tsk! Tsk!)

Yahoo Finance ^ | 11/19/13 | Tony Manfred

[AngelesCrestHighway]

The New England Patriots lost to the Carolina Panthers 24-20 after a controversial ending on Monday Night Football. On the final play of the game, an official threw a flag after Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly appeared to interfere with New England tight end Rob Gronkowski in the end zone. If the pass interference penalty was called, the Patriots would have had one untimed play from the one-yard line to win the game. But the officials ended up picking up the flag, declaring the game over, and running off the field without an explanation. Tom Brady was furious after the game, chasing down the officials and cursing them out in the tunnel. There was a ton of confusion about this. ESPN's in-house refereeing consultant said it wasn't pass interference, but everyone else seemed to think it was a clear penalty.

[BluH2o]

Yeah, he got mugged, no question ... what changed the equation was the fact the ball was short and the Panthers intercepted. Gronkowski would not have made the catch he was out of position.

[Rebelbase]

[discostu]

Good point, I definitely thought Brady was trying to get the call with that throw, which is the smart move if everybody is covered and the defense is closing in (they put him on his back a lot during that drive), but the ball wasn’t on target for it. Watch out for the Panthers, 6 wins in a row, with quality opponents, they seem to finally have enough defense to make Cam’s good stats turn into wins.

[Starboard]

I don’t have a dog in this fight. Just just wondering about the scenario if Carolina had fought to get down field in the remaining seconds of the game, and there was a controversial call in the end zone that suddenly negated the hometown team’s chance of winning.

Would there have been a “hometown call” for Carolina in this big game on national TV? I suspect that would have been the case.

[Hoffer Rand]

I’m just grumpy about the timing. Pats get a supposed bad call at the end of their game. Next game they’ll be playing with a chip on their shoulder, while refs will be calling the game just a little more in their favor to not be criticized. And who are they playing next week? My Broncos. That just sucks.

[chiefqc]

The guy gets pain millions and still he needs to whine, grow up.

[dainbramaged]

As a Green Bay Packer fan I know all about blown official calls.
Come on now, Golden Tate caught that ball fair and square :>)

[Chuzzlewit]

agreed... the receiver was literally held at the back of the end zone. no horse in this race though... I watched, but I didn’t care who won either way.

[discostu]

Usually it’s holding away from the ball not interference. The refs got it right, the ball was uncatchable and Gronk wasn’t trying to get to the ball.

[no-to-illegals]

Brady's computer brain miscalculated the throw (imho). A little deeper in the end zone and who knows. Picking up the flag was the proper call. Ball was clearly under-thrown (imho) perhaps even intentionally. Brady miscalculated the throw and thought if I under-throw but throw in the direction of my primary receiver (perhaps) a flag would fly. Am happy for the Panthers that the flag was picked up. Picking up the flag was the right call.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Honestly it’s a bitch for die hard fans of either team when a game comes down to a refs call...

[Starboard]

Refs have prefs.

********
And most refs have strong prefs to safely depart the stadium.

[DrDude]

You are correct. However they can’t end the game on a defensive penalty so Pats would have gained 5 yards and have one play left. Not a fan of either team but these Refs are all part of the NFL’s plan for “parity’.

[grania]

Any team with that close of a score at the end of the game stands a good chance of losing because of a questionable call. The Pats should deal with it and not wait until the end of the game to excel.

[fuzzylogic]

I’m no NE fan....but this can’t be the correct call. As soon as the ball has been snapped if *any* player is interfered with the flag is thrown and an interference penalty is applied - regardless of if the ball was even thrown to (or not) the player that was interfered with. The ball was not thrown out of bounds, to say that the interfered player could not be “in the play” is a ridiculous and subjective opinion of a referee. The whole point is that without being interfered with the player *might* have been able to influence the play - which in this case might only have been to stop the ball from being intercepted, the fact that it was the last play of the game is irrelevant. It was interference with a player near to where the ball was thrown and here should have been another play.

So now all interference calls should require a ref conference to decide if the infraction might have somehow impacted the play? How can you know?

I hate to say it but...NE was screwed.

[Nervous Tick]

>> Tom Brady was ... chasing down the officials and cursing them out in the tunnel. There was a ton of confusion about this.

Why the confusion? Was Brady cursing them in Klingon or something?

[Colonel_Flagg]

No dog in this fight, but even if it’s not pass interference it’s unquestionably either illegal contact since it occurred more than five yards downfield, or defensive holding.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Ah, the Packers. Always cheated, never defeated.

[bray]

Looks like interference. If they didn’t throw the flag it wouldn’t have mattered, but the ref thought there was contact and then reversed the call.

[UB355]

I am a Wisconsin Green Bay Packers fan. I have a grandson who wears a Tom Brady Jersey. I am so mean I told my wife to email the grandson and ask him if he is wearing the Jersey inside out today.