Derok...All I ask for is objectivity. I haven't made my final assessment yet. I will say now that one questionable call is predictable, but how about three? That is a little fishy. So were they questionable or were the Ravens players just making dumb plays that experienced championship teams (the Pats) just don't make. I shall do some thinking and play reviewing and give some thoughts later.

I dunno, you could be on to something.

That was quite the drive they had at the end. I'm an inpartial observer so it's not like I have any bias. I actually want the Pats to go 19-0, but I'm not so completely sure that they should have won last night...

Either way it goes, I had this theory before, during, and after the Pats/Colts game week 9: The Pats would have an easier time winning in January in the RCA dome than they would outside in their own stadium.

Maroney is not a smash mouth back. If you watch him, he doesn't break tackles and their unstoppable passing game can be stopped by wind, rain, and snow.

That said, they're still the favorite and have a great chance at going 19-0, but if I was a Pats fan, I would be very nervous to play the Colts, Jags, and Steelers outside in January, especially the Steelers and those linebacker blitzing schemes.

I honestly don't get where the Ravens were coming from with all their talk about the refs rigging the game. As rabid of a Patriots fan as I am, I think I'm about as unbiased as you can be when it comes to making calls. There are plenty of times where my initial gut-reaction on a play might be \"there's no way our opponent caught that ball, he's out of bounds, dropped it, etc.\" But after a second look, I'll be like \"No, I was wrong, he definitely got that.\" Honestly, with today's instant replay and 10,000 camera angles, you'd have to be a pretty big homer to dispute most calls. Really, the only things worth arguing are things like pass interference which are mostly judgement calls.

Anyway, I haven't heard one person actually name a play where a bad call was made, despite all the complaints. 4th and 1, the first time, the Ravens clearly called timeout. Fortunate? Definitely. But a conspiracy? Hardly. The second 4th and 1 play, we clearly had a false start and the flags were in the air the second the ball was snapped. Again, fortunate? Absolutely. But you can't say the refs were screwing the Ravens because it was the right call. Same thing with the holding call in the endzone on 4th down. Benjamin Watson got mugged. Again, with the Jabbar Gaffney TD - close, but I think they got that right as well. His fingertips were on the ball the entire time.

The Patriots were extremely fortunate to win that game, no doubt. But I really don't think it was a screw-job. Personally, I think that the Ravens started trash-talking the refs, and the one ref was completely out of line by talking back. I think that got the Ravens upset and they just started throwing the blame on the officials because they completely lost their composure. However, I can't name a single incorrect call on that final stretch... except...

On the very final play, Asante Samuel got absolutely mugged by one of the Ravens receivers, which was the only reason the other Ravens receiver caught the ball. That was offensive-interference if I've ever seen it. Fortunately, it didn't result in a touchdown. So the one bad call was actually against the Patriots.

Peter King agrees: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/p...04/mmqbte/index.html

I really don't think this was a screw-job. If anything, the Patriots have been the ones getting screwed. That Indy game was horrendously called. We won and I was fuming mad afterwards. It was disgusting! And even last week, the only reason the Pats were trailing in the fourth was that a Randy Moss touchdown was taken away due to offensive pass interference where Moss never even made contact with the defender. There's been a ton of that stuff all year against the Patriots. I actually find it laughable that one of our opponents is suggesting we're the ones getting all the calls. We were certainly fortunate, no doubt. But we didn't get a single incorrect call that helped us out down that pivotal stretch.

daddyfatsax wrote:
Again, what were the questionable calls? A lot of people were throwing the term \"questionable\" around. We definitely lucked-out. But I don't see how anyone could really question the validity of those calls.

Let's say we got the 1st down on the 4th and 1 and the official didn't honor the time out. Baltimore would be pitching a fit! You can't have it both ways.

Same thing with the false start. We get the 1st and they don't call a false start, people would be fuming!

Benjamin Watson was absolutely, unquestionably interfered with in the end zone. Some people say you need to \"let them play\", but honestly, if the situation was reversed and the officials didn't make that call, everyone in Baltimore would be whining about it.

When these things happen, you got to ask yourself, what would my reaction be if the jersey's were switched? Or would I have wanted the officials to make that call if they had gotten the first down instead of getting stuffed. When you do that, it's pretty clear that the Patriots didn't benefit from some conspiracy. They just got lucky. Had they gotten first downs on those plays and had them called back, you would've called it unlucky. You have to look at things as they happened, not in retrospect.

This isn't always the case, but I agree with Derok 100%. All of the calls were legit, Baltimore showed why they are a 4-8 team at the end, and the Pats showed why they have 12 wins. Winners find way to win, losers find a way to squander it. The Ravens lost their composure BIGTIME. The Ravens are losers. The Patroits are winners.

Howl for you BonK!

I don't think I made it clear in my post that I wasn't actually agreeing that the Ravens got screwed. I should have further elaborated that \"I wasn't so sure they should have won\".... because they played so terribly and got lucky! The Ravens gave the game away. I read Peter King every week and I agree with him and you Derok. The Indy game was waaaaaaaaay worse then this in terms of a \"screw job.\"

Also, 90% of the offensive pass interference calls against Moss are complete bunk. Just terrible.