Perhaps if the Patriots beat the refs in the game against the Colts, the refs certainly beat the Ravens in giving the Patriots opportunity after opportunity until they finally scored. Before I get to that, lets talk about other aspects of this game.
First of all, this was the most exciting game of the year and whoever was watching this game can not deny that they were in awe at the edge of their couch gripping their beer can. It felt like a Super Bowl game.
The Patriots have blown away teams this year....but wait, they blew away bad teams. Notice when the Patriots have to play a good team or a team with something unique about them they struggle tremendously. They struggled against the Colts (good team), they struggled against the Eagles (Feeley knew how to pick apart that defense because of his history with the Patriots), and they struggled against the Ravens, who played smash mouth, in your face, hard-hitting football that the Patriots have not seen all year. In other words, the Patriots can certainly be beaten when they actually play good teams, but their terribly easy schedule permits that from happening.
I wish it was extremly windy every single time the Patriots play. Wind is Brady's weakness. He can not throw in the wind, as demonstrated during this game and that reduces the long ball threat to Moss. Since they don't have a solid running game, they become one dimensional and struggle when wind is present. Moss and Welker's numbers dropped tremendously this game because of Brady's lack of ability to throw long.
The Ravens defense stepped up tremendously. When the Patriots receivers actually caught the ball, they were hit extremly hard. Brady was sacked more times this game than ever. On offense, Willis McGahee is a hero. He had one of his best games ever and it came at the right time. So with all this said....why did the Ravens lose?
On the final drive, the Patriots faced numerous 4th down attempts. When they failed to complete the 4th down and they were going to turn the ball over, the refs threw a flag. In fact, the refs threw so many flags....they gave the Patriots 100 free yards! 100 FREE YARDS! THAT'S AN ENTIRE FIELD'S WORTH OF PENALTY YARDS! They basically kept throwing flags until Brady got that final touchdown to put them ahead. The drive on the television screen should have read 6th and 10. Its as if the refs saw the Patriots weren't going to score on their own....so they kept giving them free yards to help them.
This makes me so angry because I'm one of many people who are tired of hearing how good this cocky, arrogant Patriots team is. I admit, they are the best in the league, but they should have lost by now. They get calls their way or get very lucky.
AND if you think I'm frustrated, think how the Ravens feel. The did every possible thing they could on offense and defense against this amazing team, but the refs who have more power than them, kept throwing flags and stopped them from winning. The Ravens started fighting with the refs and one member of the Ravens even picked up that stupid yellow flag and threw it away as if to say what the hell? Enough already! How many first downs are you going to give this team!?
(I thought that was hysterical though. He picked up the ref's flag and threw it away. Can you blame the guy? The flag was on the field more times in the last minute of the game than it was in the ref's pocket)
Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs on officiating: "Everybody is kind of cheering for them to go undefeated and break all the records. They called them the greatest offense on earth. So who knows? ... They made one more play than us and they got a little help. It's kind of the feeling of the 2001 tuck rule. It kind of feels like the tuck rule. That is the NFL for you, man. When they got a guy like that that is selling a lot of tickets, you want to keep him selling tickets."
Ravens receiver Derrick Mason on officiating: "I'm going to take it back to last game. San Diego. Quinn Sypniewski runs down the field, runs into one of their DBs, we catch the ball and they call offensive pass interference. OK. Great. This game, same thing happens. Randy Moss runs right into Samari Rolle. They call defensive pass interference. I don't understand that. One game it's called one way, the next game it's called another way. At the end, you have a phantom call. That's why it's hard to play and win a game when you are playing against more than just the best team in the NFL. It's kind of like that old Bulls team when they were running the tables. You were playing against Jordan, Pippen and the bunch and it was hard to beat them because everyone was on their side. That's the way it is now. You've got Brady and the bunch. It's hard to beat them when you're playing against them and extra people."
Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister on whether the NFL wants the Patriots to win: "They get a lot of calls. I'll say that. We've been watching film on them all week and I mean, they do get a lot of calls. As far as the NFL wanting them to win, you can't totally not think about it in those terms."
Oh well, there's always next week...but will they ever really lose?
Sure, Tom Brady threw the game winning touchdown, but this victory had little to do with Tom Brady or the Patriots. Analysts have to stop praising the Patriots and analyzing ways for other teams to beat them because that is simply not going to happen this season. Rather, analysts should start looking at the economic and marketing side to the NFL........
I think the NFL wants the Patriots to keep games close, but to win in the end no matter what it takes. Since controversy started about the Patriots running up the score, they haven't run up the score since. Think about it. Think how much money and attention the NFL is getting every week the Patriots get closer and closer to going undefeated. Marketing, broadcasting, commercialism, and ratings are all going up as people watch every week to see if the Patriots win or lose. I can say that if the Patriots would have lost tonight, I wouldn't have watched any more Patriots games and I bet neither would a majority of people because the games for the rest of the season wouldn't matter. As a result, ratings and commercialism would drop back down. What the Patriots are doing is great publicity for the NFL as they keep the ratings tremendously high as more and more people watch every week to see if they will win or lose.
Well, this game demonstrates that they will not lose this season and the refs and the NFL will make sure of that, so keep betting on the Patriots. Actually, I'm not as angry as I was when I first started writing this article because at least I have a better understanding as to why the Patriots keep winning.
For further proof to show that the refs were bias, look at the recent issue with cornerback Samari Rolle. The NFL is looking into an accusation made by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle that an official called him a "boy" during Monday's night's 27-24 loss to New England.
"In a game of this magnitude, you don't make these kinds of calls," Rolle said. "Let the players decide the outcome of the game. You can crown them champions now. I'm not taking anything away from them. They are a great team. They're not asking the refs to help them, but it's just an empty feeling."
Whether the Patriots are asking the refs to help them or not, the fact is they are getting the free help. One last issue I'd like to bring up: How many times have you seen Randy Moss push off a defender and then make a catch? The referees never call these things.
First of all, this was the most exciting game of the year and whoever was watching this game can not deny that they were in awe at the edge of their couch gripping their beer can. It felt like a Super Bowl game.
The Patriots have blown away teams this year....but wait, they blew away bad teams. Notice when the Patriots have to play a good team or a team with something unique about them they struggle tremendously. They struggled against the Colts (good team), they struggled against the Eagles (Feeley knew how to pick apart that defense because of his history with the Patriots), and they struggled against the Ravens, who played smash mouth, in your face, hard-hitting football that the Patriots have not seen all year. In other words, the Patriots can certainly be beaten when they actually play good teams, but their terribly easy schedule permits that from happening.
I wish it was extremly windy every single time the Patriots play. Wind is Brady's weakness. He can not throw in the wind, as demonstrated during this game and that reduces the long ball threat to Moss. Since they don't have a solid running game, they become one dimensional and struggle when wind is present. Moss and Welker's numbers dropped tremendously this game because of Brady's lack of ability to throw long.
The Ravens defense stepped up tremendously. When the Patriots receivers actually caught the ball, they were hit extremly hard. Brady was sacked more times this game than ever. On offense, Willis McGahee is a hero. He had one of his best games ever and it came at the right time. So with all this said....why did the Ravens lose?
On the final drive, the Patriots faced numerous 4th down attempts. When they failed to complete the 4th down and they were going to turn the ball over, the refs threw a flag. In fact, the refs threw so many flags....they gave the Patriots 100 free yards! 100 FREE YARDS! THAT'S AN ENTIRE FIELD'S WORTH OF PENALTY YARDS! They basically kept throwing flags until Brady got that final touchdown to put them ahead. The drive on the television screen should have read 6th and 10. Its as if the refs saw the Patriots weren't going to score on their own....so they kept giving them free yards to help them.
This makes me so angry because I'm one of many people who are tired of hearing how good this cocky, arrogant Patriots team is. I admit, they are the best in the league, but they should have lost by now. They get calls their way or get very lucky.
AND if you think I'm frustrated, think how the Ravens feel. The did every possible thing they could on offense and defense against this amazing team, but the refs who have more power than them, kept throwing flags and stopped them from winning. The Ravens started fighting with the refs and one member of the Ravens even picked up that stupid yellow flag and threw it away as if to say what the hell? Enough already! How many first downs are you going to give this team!?
(I thought that was hysterical though. He picked up the ref's flag and threw it away. Can you blame the guy? The flag was on the field more times in the last minute of the game than it was in the ref's pocket)
Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs on officiating: "Everybody is kind of cheering for them to go undefeated and break all the records. They called them the greatest offense on earth. So who knows? ... They made one more play than us and they got a little help. It's kind of the feeling of the 2001 tuck rule. It kind of feels like the tuck rule. That is the NFL for you, man. When they got a guy like that that is selling a lot of tickets, you want to keep him selling tickets."
Ravens receiver Derrick Mason on officiating: "I'm going to take it back to last game. San Diego. Quinn Sypniewski runs down the field, runs into one of their DBs, we catch the ball and they call offensive pass interference. OK. Great. This game, same thing happens. Randy Moss runs right into Samari Rolle. They call defensive pass interference. I don't understand that. One game it's called one way, the next game it's called another way. At the end, you have a phantom call. That's why it's hard to play and win a game when you are playing against more than just the best team in the NFL. It's kind of like that old Bulls team when they were running the tables. You were playing against Jordan, Pippen and the bunch and it was hard to beat them because everyone was on their side. That's the way it is now. You've got Brady and the bunch. It's hard to beat them when you're playing against them and extra people."
Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister on whether the NFL wants the Patriots to win: "They get a lot of calls. I'll say that. We've been watching film on them all week and I mean, they do get a lot of calls. As far as the NFL wanting them to win, you can't totally not think about it in those terms."
Oh well, there's always next week...but will they ever really lose?
Sure, Tom Brady threw the game winning touchdown, but this victory had little to do with Tom Brady or the Patriots. Analysts have to stop praising the Patriots and analyzing ways for other teams to beat them because that is simply not going to happen this season. Rather, analysts should start looking at the economic and marketing side to the NFL........
I think the NFL wants the Patriots to keep games close, but to win in the end no matter what it takes. Since controversy started about the Patriots running up the score, they haven't run up the score since. Think about it. Think how much money and attention the NFL is getting every week the Patriots get closer and closer to going undefeated. Marketing, broadcasting, commercialism, and ratings are all going up as people watch every week to see if the Patriots win or lose. I can say that if the Patriots would have lost tonight, I wouldn't have watched any more Patriots games and I bet neither would a majority of people because the games for the rest of the season wouldn't matter. As a result, ratings and commercialism would drop back down. What the Patriots are doing is great publicity for the NFL as they keep the ratings tremendously high as more and more people watch every week to see if they will win or lose.
Well, this game demonstrates that they will not lose this season and the refs and the NFL will make sure of that, so keep betting on the Patriots. Actually, I'm not as angry as I was when I first started writing this article because at least I have a better understanding as to why the Patriots keep winning.
For further proof to show that the refs were bias, look at the recent issue with cornerback Samari Rolle. The NFL is looking into an accusation made by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle that an official called him a "boy" during Monday's night's 27-24 loss to New England.
"In a game of this magnitude, you don't make these kinds of calls," Rolle said. "Let the players decide the outcome of the game. You can crown them champions now. I'm not taking anything away from them. They are a great team. They're not asking the refs to help them, but it's just an empty feeling."
Whether the Patriots are asking the refs to help them or not, the fact is they are getting the free help. One last issue I'd like to bring up: How many times have you seen Randy Moss push off a defender and then make a catch? The referees never call these things.
No comments:
Post a Comment