Yeah, I had the same reaction! I ranted to my wife about it, who tolerated me briefly.
Look where his arm is relative to himself when he makes the hit, and in that picture after the gif. He lowered his arm, he didn’t raise it. Brees is tipping backwards, so his head is lower than at the moment of impact.
Steve Smith doesn’t look 34.
Do these guys (panthers/ patriots) not like each other much or is this a normal level of personal fouls, face mask grabbing etc?
Smith and Talib have a history from when he was with Tampa. Otherwise, no not really.
God, I couldn’t disagree more. Eliminate replay? That’s one of the few things the NFL has got right and that MLB needs to implement, ESPECIALLY because the refs are human and don’t always get it right. I would much rather the slow down of play (and let’s be honest…with the commercial breaks as they are nowadays, the slight extra time the booth takes to review plays is a very minor annoyance) than letting bad judgement calls stand and negatively affect the outcome of a game.
I’m surprised anyone would hold that opinion, quite frankly.
Wow. I guess it’s time to include the Panthers in the post season discussion. Great last drive by Newton and them, and now that Pats have 59 seconds to score a TD to win. Panthers are playing excellent defense right now and Cam is starting to make shit happen.
Bad time for a pass interference call there.
People just don’t appreciate our efforts to bring order out of the chaos of existence.
I was down by one point in my money league with the panthers defense. Then I get a fucking interception on the last play of the gaaaaaaaame! Wooooooo!
What a game. I’m exhausted.
That was the worst fucking call I have ever seen. I am no Patriots fan, but Kuechly was absolutely MUGGING Gronk on that play and for them to throw the flag (as they should have), then suddenly arbitrarily decide to pick it up, call no foul and declare the game over is some serious horseshit. ESPECIALLY on the last play of the game.
Jesus. They commentators tried to explain that the refs must have felt the ball was uncatchable…well yeah, if your fucking LB is mugging the intended receiver and driving him towards the back of the endzone and away from where he might be able to make a play then…yes. Lordy Bagordy, that was a HORRIBLE way for that game to end.
HORRIBLE. And I HATE the Patriots.
Great game, great week of picking, why can’t they all be like this.
Weird ass press conference with Belichick.
Gronk was trying to move toward the front of the end zone and couldn’t get there by being mugged. I’m no Pats fan either, but fuck that crap.
Yep. I seriously dislike the Patriots mostly due to Belicheck, I recognize Brady’s greatness as being the primary factor in Belicheck being considered a great coach after his abysmal record in Cleveland, etc, but…that was a really bad call, then no call, and then just declaring the game over. What a horrid situation. What I wory about is how shit like this affects the game writ large. When has it ever been okay to clearly affect the outcome of a game like that? I know it’s also gone the other way too, which is just as bad, but…how was that not even reviewed?
Belichick didn’t have an abysmal record in Cleveland. He took over an aged team that needed to be gutted and rebuilt, and then created one of the best defenses in the league and won a playoff game after a couple of years. He was hated by everyone, but his record as a coach, while not astounding, was certainly not abysmal.
He’s easily a top 5 coach in the modern era, possibly the best.
As I see it, the current situation is only very slightly less arbitrary than before replay. The zebras still exercise their judgement on the field, in ways that obviate the value of replay, as evidenced by the outrage over the end of tonight’s game.
One example that stands out glaringly was the play in the last SB where the purple guys ran the kick-off back for a score. You watch the break-away part of the run and see one coverage player being flagrantly held by two opposing players, but there was no flag thrown, so that part was not subject to review. All the time, we still see non-calls that should have been made, and review simply does not help with that.
So, either way, the fans end up grumbling or second-guessing the zebras. We allow rain, wind, torn ACLs, crowd noise and other arbitrary factors to influence a game, officiating errors could easily be counted as just another thing that affects the game. I am not convinced that replay improves the game measurably (and, honestly, the delay thing is inconsequential, because injuries cause delays as well).
It was just payback for the clear non-call on an obvious holding to prevent a sack on the Pats’ last minute TD play against the Saints that won the game 
Not that I’m bitter, or anything (and I was rooting for the Pats because the Panthers are nipping at the Saints’ heels!).
I don’t know, I just don’t see that. To me it looks like Gronk never attempts to change direction and his own momentum continues to take him toward the back of the end zone. Now an argument could be made that Kuechly helped him in that direction, he damn sure was right there against him and maybe that’s all you need for PI but I think he’s more of an obstruction than an actual force. Even if he’s backed off a foot or two I don’t think Gronk can make that catch, Lester intercepts regardless. If Brady had thrown it deeper near where Gronk was, no brainer, they get another play.
I was as surprised as anyone that a called PI that at first looked legit turned into a no call but I do see why the refs talked about it and made the call they did. Tough break for NE though for damn sure.
The biggest bummer about the game to me was how long we must now wait for Steve Smith and Aqib Talib to rock’em sock’em again. That was a joy to watch. Afterward Smith called him “another notch in the bedpost” and about not finishing the game told him to “Ice up, son. Ice up.”
That’s what I saw too - Gronk never really turned around for the ball or anything. I’m not saying it was obviously the right call to pick up the flag, but I don’t think it was egregious either way. Although it won me the game so it was obviously the right call.