The Officials Are NOT To Blame
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by Behbigben15
New England still undefeated:
Okay, so last night's game between the undefeated Patriots, and the Baltimore Ravens turned out to be an exciting, close game. Which was VERY unexpected. And, as you all may have noticed, the Ravens had ALOT of penalties in their 27-24 loss. The Ravens played nearly mistake-free football up until Kyle Boller threw a costly interception early in the 4th QTR in NE territory. New England got three points off it on a Stephen Gostkowski 38-yard FG. The Ravens got the ball after the FG, and NE stopped them on a 3& out, and Baltimore was forced to punt. Baltimore had another 3 & out their next possession with 3:41 to go, had they picked up just ONE first down that drive, they could have taken another one to two minutes off the clock.
But, instead New England went on a 13-play, 73 yard scoring drive, which took up 2:46 which was capped by a 8-yard TD pass from Brady to Jabar Gaffney. That drive could have been stopped on fourth down TWICE, had Baltimore not made simple mistakes. So, after the two minute warning NE faced a 4th & 1, Brady tried to run up the middle, but was stopped for a loss, BUT Baltimore's assistant coach, Rex Ryan called a timeout. The Ravens were saying that they should not have granted the timeout, because in the rulebook it states only a player, or head coach can call a timeout, well, Ryan should have known that, but, the Ravens still had another chance at stopping them, and they didn't. Although, on the next play facing the 4th & 1 again, they stopped Heath Evans for a loss of 1-yard. BUT, again NE got another chance after the officials blew the play off after NE's right guard Russ Hochstein started to early. So, after the 5 yard penalty due to the false start, NE got a THIRD chance, and on 4th & 6, Tom Brady saw an opening and took it for a 12-yard gain.
After gaining 5 yards on first, second, and third down, New England faced another 4th down, this time they needed 5 yards for the first. Brady threw a pass in the end zone intended for TE Benjamin Watson, but it fell incomplete. Baltimore cheered, because they thought they had won the game, but ANOTHER penalty, this one was a defensive holding called on defensive back Jermaine Winborne which gave the Pats 5 extra yards, and an automatic FD. The next play Brady threw an 8-yard strike to Jabar Gaffney in the left, back corner of the end zone for a TD. The play was reviewed, and the call on the field stood, TD. Between the TD, and the XP, Baltimore's LB, Bart Scott, was penalized for not one, but TWO unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and he was furious. Ed Reed was offsides on the XP, which was good, and just like that, 35 yards was added onto the kickoff.
Gostkowski kicked off from Bal's 35-yard line, and kicked it right through the uprights for a touchback. Boller went to work with :43 to go, and threw for a 13-yard pass to Musa Smith, and another pass for 12-yards to Derrick Mason. After Baltimore, and NE both called timeouts, and Boller threw an incomplete pass, Boller threw a 52-yard hailmary pass which was caught by Mark Clayton, who came up JUST short of end zone to the 3-yard line of NE as time expired, NE wins 27-24.
The officials are NOT to blame for this heart-breaking Ravens loss. Today, everyone here in MD has been whining about the officials, and I don't like it. Here is why it is NOT their fault:
1. The officials did not force Boller to throw that costly INT to James Sanders, did they???
2. Baltimore had 3 chances to stop NE on 4th down, and they couldn't do the job. Maybe Rex Ryan shouldn't have called that timeout, huh???
3. That defensive holding call on 4th and 5 was, in fact, the right call, so STOP bitching about the call.
4. Baltimore needs to discipline their players a little better, there is NO excuse whatsoever for 35 yards from penalties.
5. 13 PENALTIES, FOR 100 YARDS, 2 TURNOVERS (6 penalties for 50 yards on Pats final scoring drive).
6. Baltimore out gained NE in rushing yards, total yards, and held the ball longer, but had more mistakes (2 turnovers, 13 penalties).
Kyle Boller in 4th QTR: 6 for 9, 86 Passing Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT- Boller really didn't do too bad late in the game, he made just one mistake, and that was the INT, which gave NE the momentum, and NE was able to take the lead later on.
Tom Brady on NE's last Scoring Drive: 3 for 10, 41 Yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 14 Rushing Yards- Brady completed just 30% of his passes on the final scoring drive for 41 yards, but got a few big breaks from Baltimore which helped him lead NE to the GW TD.
