Yep, ditto, ditto, and ditto. The whimsical way pass-interference is called is one of my boilerplate gripes, and needs no elaboration here. Suffice it to say that that inexplicable non-call in the fourth quarter cost the Patriots four points – four points that were the margin of victory. I do think that if Caldwell and Brady had thrown a tantrum, they would have gotten the officials to throw a flag, so maybe the fault is theirs. But I always get a chill down my spine when I see a critical pass-interference call go the wrong way. It always seems like a bad omen for the Patriots.
Oh, well, I’m slowly resigning myself. In the end, I think the Patriots lost too many players – over the course of the season, and over the course of the game. By the end, they had basically a third-string defense out there against the Colts. The loss that really hurt, though, was Kevin Faulk, who disappeared midway through the third quarter. The guy is a demon on difficult third-down conversions, and they could have sorely used him a few times in that role.
Still and all, not a bad season for the Pats, whom many had given up for lost before the season started. They had a good draft last year, aren’t losing any key people except Samuels, and ought to be in darn good shape next year.