Pats Ravens. Whew. Torture. Pats had to beat a tough, well coached team AND the refs. What a brutally called game. How do you overturn a big third down catch by Amendola without conclusive evidence? You can’t. Or you shouldn’t. But after video review, the refs did. When the announcers think it was a catch and think the call should stand, then at worst, the video is inconclusive. The call on the field should stand.

Then fans and tv viewers were subjected to the Revis pass interference call on Steve Smith. Pass interference should only be called when it’s obvious, when everyone in the stadium sees it. Like Browner’s penalty. Now that was pass interference. When it’s obvious to the millions of TV viewers, call it. But when you have controversy about the call, when it’s not obvious, when you have to review the play in slow motion and say “see that incidental contact?”, then it’s a bad call. When a respected analyst like Chris Collinsworth has to support the call by saying that Revis was forcing Smith out of bounds (WHAT!!!), or possibly “arm barring” him, then DON’T CALL IT for God’s sake.

Then we come to Gronk. First drive of the second half. Big third down pass to Gronk. Apparently, when it comes to Gronk, it’s okay to tackle him while the ball is in the air. No pass interference. Move on. Nothing to see here. Refs blow another call, or should I say non-call.

Finally, the holding call on Revis, again on Steve Smith. Yeah I could see it. We all saw it. I suppose you could call that. But you can’t call EVERY hold on or near the line of scrimmage, especially one that had nothing to do with the play. By that time, Flacco was running for his life, getting strip sacked. A spactacular play by Jamie Collins, who recovered on the Ravens’ 3 yard line. The place went nuts. But negated by the despicable yellow flag. I hate when a spectacular play is negated by a ticky tack penalty. Don’t you?
Every time that happens I think of the great college player, Raghib “Rocket” Ismail. Notre Dame was competing for the national championship, trailing late in the game against Colorado, when the Rocket fields a punt and takes off. Last chance for the Irish to win the national championship. Seventy spectacular yards later he’s in the end zone. There’s no other play as electric as a punt return for a touchdown. Add the clutch circumstances, and it was a play you’ll remember forever. ESPN would mention it in it’s top ten college plays of all time. But, “whoa nelly”, hold on, yellow flag. Ticky tack illegal block. Instead of a great memory, obscurity.
That’s how I feel about the Collins strip sack and recovery. Spectacular play relegated to obscurity because of the insidious yellow flag.

Postscript#1. Watching Broncos/Colts. Winner plays us next week for the Super Bowl. Colts punt returner hit hard, hits ground, fumbles. Should be down by contact. Naturally, ref calls it a fumble, good for the home team. Play reviewed. CBS Network goes to their ref “expert”, nitwit Mike Carey. Of course he supports the refs call on the field. And of course, both the call on the field, and “expert ” Mike Carey, are wrong. Don’t even bother listening to the CBS analyst, Phil Simms. He rarely says anything profound, and absolutely NEVER contradicts the refs. Do these guys really get paid for this?
Postscript#2
Dez Bryant spectacular catch reversed. Did he make a football move trying to extend to the end zone? Were his fingers under the ball as he hit the ground? I don’t think you can answer those questions CONCLUSIVELY, a requirement to overturn a call on the field. When he bobbled ball it never hit the ground. God forbid refs acquiesce to a spectacular play. They, the league, has to always be right. Flunky announcers have to support calls. Nitwit ref experts hired by Networks have to corroborate calls. The result is that we’ll forget the spectacular play by Dez, just like we forgot the play by the Rocket, because, well, they never happened. Did they?