Belichick has two guys back to return a punt that's into a strong wind.
Seems like a simple/safe thing to do so 1 guy doesn't have to cover the entire field and battle the wind. Almost never see a coach do that. Smart.
Guessing it gave Free Safety wood.
Maybe I'm in the minority but I loved the fact that the Patriots didn't benefit from a call, or non-call, near the end of the game.
Saint Brady underthrew him by about 3 yards. Was there contact? Yes. Was it catchable? Heck no.
They won a couple of titles by virtue of cheating, so I guess what comes around goes around. Couldn't have happened to a better team as far as I'm concerned.
What's the closest equivalent of Lance Easley posting his interpretation of the rules?
Mike Tyson posting a recipe for blackened quail? Martha Stewart listing the top 5 underrated UFC fighters? Rob Ford questioning someone's behavior in public?
antiworst comparing himself to you in posting style...
Saint Brady underthrew him by about 3 yards. Was there contact? Yes. Was it catchable? Heck no.
Karma is a b****, but I think it was the wrong non-call. The LB was walking Gronk backwards while the ball was in the air. How many times have we seen a ball 10 yards over the receiver's head or four yards out of bounds yet they call pass interference? We see it every Sunday. If you want to be consistent, that call should have been made last night. But the fact that it wasn't made was fun!
antiworst comparing himself to you in posting style...
From my seat the couch I was certain that the the call on the field was correct andBrady would get another shot. I found it interesting that this morning several ex NFL players and coaches were alright with the reversal, one being Cris Carter
And last night several ex NFL players and coaches thought it was a total joke and a complete screw job. Being OK with the call is the contrarian, Skip Baless type attention seeking take that some guys are taking. IMO
From now on just push all receivers away from the ball so the ball is "underthrown". You can even wrap your arms around them and start pushing them before the ball is even thrown.
We don't need to fire Dom Capers after all.
I agree with FreeSafety, though it was probably holding rather than pass interference. The ball was uncatchable because the receiver was restrained for seconds....
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...1119,0,6643340.story
Brady, who shouted at referee Clete Blakeman as he jogged off the field after the game, later pointed the finger at himself.
"It wasn't a great throw. No excuses," Brady said, according to the Boston Herald. "It should have been a better throw."
It was both holding and PI.
Defensive holding occurs before the ball is in the air.
PI occurs when you make contact with and impede a receiver while the ball is in the air.
Watch the press conference where Brady made those comments.
And watch Billy B's as well.
They both made an effort to avoid the subject. BB even said the last time he questioned a ref he was reminded that "that is not what we're supposed to do". paraphrase on my part
Meaning they got their hands slapped by the league and were not going to say anything this time.
?keeping with the action figure theme established today.
VP at Bank of America. Go figure.
Explains everthing, actually.
I don't mind Gronk. Seems to be enjoying the ride. He'll grow up eventually.
I don't get the pornstar thing though. I mean, you're a pro-athlete, super star, played in a Super Bowl, best player on your team; you can have anybody. And you pick a pornstar? Doesn't really make sense to me.
She's hot, probably fun, less likely to get upset about girlfriends in every city and probably less likely to go babymomma on him. Why not?
JJSD, you offend me deeply, old friend.
Didn't SP hate the Pats?
She claimed to hate the Pats, but always came to their defense.
I'm in a mood today due to sleep deprivation. I had to face off with a raccoon that was outside our patio door at 3 this morning with a shovel in the rain.
I do much better with Dungeness crabs in Canaydia. A lot less stressful. Those little ****ers are mean and really not afraid of humanoids. Just to report, I brained that hissing bastard but good.
A raccoon was at your house with a shovel in the rain......
Yep. It seems it was born with an action-figure grip. Its chaps actually looked pretty comfortable.
?
I'm kind of shocked at the outrage on this one. Bottom line the ball was thrown short and cut off, and Gronk didn't make an effort to go back for it, because he was trying to get to where the ball was supposed to be, not because the bad man was touching him. He gave up on the ball.
Remember a few seasons ago when the Bears won against us thanks to a pass interference call on a horribly under-thrown turd pass? And Cutler went full douche and raised his hands in celebration of a penalty call like he was the greatest in the world? Well that interference call as a lot more blatant, and it still doesn't sit well with me. I'm against rewarding teams for throwing terrible passes.
@Gronk: If you're the best at your profession, wouldn't you pick someone who was the best at theirs?
If it wasn't the last play of the game. The call stands. If the play happened in NE. The call stands. I don't think it was PI but you can't throw a flag and then play the uncatchable card.
The real outrage is that there is zero consistency between NFL refs about what PI actually looks like. There's no way in blue hell Nicks is catching a terrible pass from Eli and Tramon is breaking on the ball and making a play for it and he gets called for interference. It's pretty sad that PI calls are as botched as often as they are in 2013. You'd think the NFL could get a handle on it.
CJ your comments bring up something that's been on my mind. With the mugging that is allowed, well at least against GBP WRs from what I've seen, why in the hell does anyone play zone defense? It kills me how often Capers does. Our guys are good at man to man and seem to have constant problems with zone. Ride those WRs and take your chance on a holding call or something but don't let them run free in the zone and hope your guys read it right.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/...ce-non-call/3641985/
"We as officials have always been taught, for a ball to be uncatchable, it has to be clearly out of the field of play or it has to be a kind of — I probably shouldn't say this — a Tim Tebow-type pass that lands 15 yards in front of you," Daopoulus said.
My beef is that we've always heard that the refs are supposed to assume every ball is catchable unless it is way, way off.
If now, defenders can push receivers away from the ball and if they can push the guy far enough away from where the ball lands, which according to last night is only about 3 yards....it is OK and not a penalty.....that is something new for the NFL.
The only legit excuse there can be is that Gronk's own momentum made the ball uncatchable. But that cannot be proven when a 250 man has his arms wrapped around Gronk and is pushing him.
I'm guessing if that scenario happens again the flag doesn't get picked up.
@Tdog,
You can get into trouble if you're DBs are running with receivers against a QB that can run. Ponders a guy that will quickly pull it down and run if all he sees is man coverage. You have to disguise coverage as best you can. But I agree. GB struggles with zone coverage.
It was a bad call, but not Golden Tate over MD Jennings Immaculate Deception bad. If it had been a non-call from the start, there would not be as much outcry. The fact that a flag was thrown and then picked up magnified the situation.
Found on the internet (and fascinating):
Many are justifying the no-call because of it being the last play of the game and the officials don't want to directly have their flags affect the outcome. Many seem to then also forget opening kickoff night in 2011 between GB and NO. On the last play, AJ Hawk jumped over Darren Sproles back (pretty easy feat) to knock down a pass while Sproles was standing still in the end zone. While there was more contact than last night's when Hawk launched over Sproles, Hawk still didn't drive "through" Sproles to get to the ball. Yet, Hawk was flagged for PI, nonetheless, and the officials extended the game to one un-timed down from the 1 to give NO an attempt to tie the game. The official who threw the flag: Terrence Miles, same official who threw the flag last night.
The NFL needs to make a statement that the flag should not have been picked up and that this is PI. Otherwise they've opened a big can of worms on what is allowed.
If the guy who intercepted it would have missed it and tipped the ball into the air and it lands at Gronk's feet.......would it have been PI then?
If the guy who intercepted it would have missed it and tipped the ball into the air and it lands at Gronk's feet.......would it have been PI then?
No, because once the ball was tipped PI can no longer be called.
It is clear in the photo. The PI happened before the ball would have been tipped.
After a ball is tipped there is no PI. I agree with that. You can grab the receiver after the ball is tipped. But a tipped ball does not negate a penalty that happens prior to the tip.
Forget PI. Kuechly was holding Gronk the entire play, even before the ball was out. The ref saw it, he knew what he saw, he threw the flag and he should have stood by it.
I just find it interesting that we are so engrossed in the integrity of a call in a sport that we have pretty much agreed on is losing its integrity.
I thought illegal contact when I watched the replay. Never saw a good shot of initial contact/when Brady released the ball though. Looked like 5 yards for illegal contact and 1 untimed down if anything is being called.
By the way... Kuechly looks really good. But he's only 235. Going to be interesting to see how he holds up at MLB over the long haul. Dan Connor was about the same size when Carolina drafted him out of Penn St. That ended poorly,,,
Agreed FS
How many un-timed downs would they give an offense if the defence just kept mugging the WR? I guess at some point the half the distance puts the ball in the end zone?
