Why Tom Brady is a complete and utter d-bag and the Pats have no class

I think the def holding call was bullshit. If it was going the other way, no way are the Pats called for that penalty. And I hate the Ravens.

I thought it was slanted like HELL in the Pats favor.

i dont think brady had a 21 sticker on his helmet during pregame warmup, but the rest of the team did. dont know what thats about.
I don't know about pregame, but I know he had it on during the game...

http://assets.espn.go.com/media/apphoto/b001e6af-c0f5-4316-9f5d-1dcbca80b315.jpg

I also noticed that belicheck took off his hood and ear-muffs during the moment of silence, which probably shows more respect than those people yelling at FedEx on Sunday. I have no idea what brady did during it.

That holding call was a little touchy, but it was holding. If you watch the ball, the safety also hits the receiver before the ball gets there, so it was a penalty either way.

If the Ravens want to blame someone, blame Bart Scott for racking up 30 yards worth of penalties on the kickoff. If they had better field position they could have gotten a FG and died.

I hate both teams. A lot. Both are in my top 5 (Dallas, Philly, NYG, Pats, Ravens) and Baltimore kept them alive. I don't think the refs called any fouls out of the ordinary. As far as Brady not having a 21 sticker, that sounds like an equipment manager deal, not a Brady deal. These guys aren't tossing stickers on their own helmets.

I thought it was slanted like HELL in the Pats favor.

Thank you. Someone agrees with me. I don't know for sure but i think I remember noticing at the time that the defensive holding flag didn't come out until after it was obvious it was going to be incomplete.

I don't think the NFL "fixes" games per se, but I think it's possible that they communicate who they'd like to see win...and the officials have that in the back of their minds.

That holding call was a little touchy, but it was holding. If you watch the ball, the safety also hits the receiver before the ball gets there, so it was a penalty either way.

If the Ravens want to blame someone, blame Bart Scott for racking up 30 yards worth of penalties on the kickoff. If they had better field position they could have gotten a FG and died.

I hate both teams. A lot. Both are in my top 5 (Dallas, Philly, NYG, Pats, Ravens) and Baltimore kept them alive. I don't think the refs called any fouls out of the ordinary. As far as Brady not having a 21 sticker, that sounds like an equipment manager deal, not a Brady deal. These guys aren't tossing stickers on their own helmets.

by the letter of the rules, yes it was a penalty, but the Refs were calling it loose for the Pats all night long. Again, I dislike both teams, I have no bias but, to me, there was a big difference in how the rules were applied to each team.

I really don't care what they said or didn't say after the game. They certainly were not obligated to say anything at all.

As for the game I thought the refs really took the game out of the Ravens hands at the end. Even Moss said that they weren't calling things all game long, and only at the end did they call that critical holding call.

And isn't there some sort of directive towards the officials that in crunch time they're supposed to let them play a bit more? I could've swore I've heard that before...

by the letter of the rules, yes it was a penalty, but the Refs were calling it loose for the Pats all night long. Again, I dislike both teams, I have no bias but, to me, there was a big difference in how the rules were applied to each team.
Still, the safety hit the player before the ball got there. It would have been a penalty either way. You didn't address that. I didn't see the whole game, but at the same time, the Ravens are one of the most penalized teams in the NFL for a reason. They wanted the be physical with the pats, and that's going to draw fouls.

And isn't there some sort of directive towards the officials that in crunch time they're supposed to let them play a bit more? I could've swore I've heard that before...
I think this depends on the ref crew. To be honest, if I were a player consistency would be my main concern.

I know it sounds like I'm trying to defend the Pats, but I really do hate them! I just think the Ravens shot themselves in the foot a bunch of times. I mean, the TO was called before the snap, the false start happened before the snap, and I feel there were two penalties on the big play in question, although one was a little touchy but holding by rules.

As far as the Gaffney catch, I think it was good. Looked like he was just shifting arms. The ball never looked loose at any point to me. He seemed to have control of it, just changed arms. I think that was the type of play that doesn't get overturned regardless of how it's called.

The gaffney catch was undoubtedly a catch. I think that was one where it looks slightly debatable when slowed down but if you watch it at full speed, there's really no question.

Regarding the safety making contact before the ball arrived: To me (and i haven't watched the replay this morning so maybe i am wrong) I thought the safety was making a play on the ball, in which case incidental contact is ok.

The other point is that the Pats got away with that physical db play for years, now they're undefeated and when a team plays them the way the pats play everyone else, it's called. I don't know, I didn't think that the ball was catchable anyway and I didn't think that needed to be called. My main point is even if it could have gone either way, I think it was pretty shady.