Penalty-gate!

By Os Davis  |   Thursday, October 30, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

New England Patriots
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Ah, it wouldn’t be football in the 2000s without accusations of cheating by and/or league favoritism of the New England Patriots. So, to chase the recent bizarre non-exchange that resulted in a brief fascination with “Kneegate” (Sadly, this term is not a RF365 creation, but was rather coined by PatsFans.com member 12+81=TD) comes another reward for a Patriot win: Penalty-gate!

Commentary: Tuesday, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that Jim Haslett and the Rams would be filing a complaint with the NFL regarding the officiating of Sunday’s loss to the Pats. New England was flagged just once during the course of the game, a figure Haslett finds impossible.

Four non-calls were noted in particular by Haslett in his report: “a facemask on quarterback Marc Bulger, a late hit on Bulger, and an out-of-bounds hit on cornerback Fakhir Brown after an interception” plus “Haslett also maintained that the Rams got a bad placement ... on a punt that Donnie Jones shanked out of bounds midway through the fourth quarter.”

Though the first two non-calls are a bit difficult to find with the game broadcast without more specifics, studying the film on the latter pair is possible.

In the third quarter with roughly 6:10 remaining on a first-and-10 from the St. Louis 44, Matt Cassel, in what is certainly to become popularly known as “Bad Matt” form, heaved a floater over the fallen Wes Welker that was easily picked off by Brown.

While it appears as though TE David Thomas may have nudged Brown toward the sideline on the interception return, BenJarvus’ Green-Ellis ostensible out-of-bounds hit was actually recorded by the league as the official tackle on the play. In other words, Green-Ellis’ supposed out-of-bounds hit was actually made on the field of play.

Unless Arlen Specter is heading up a hearing on this conspiracy, can anyone see Haslett winning the argument on this one?

(Incidentally, the Rams went three-and-out on the ensuing drive after Brown’s interception.)

The controversial punt happened from the Rams 23 with 10:42 remaining in the game. Jones just doesn’t get enough of the ball and sails the pigskin waaaay out of bounds barely in Patriot territory. The referee spot to put it at the New England 48 does seem generous when watching again, but here’s the funny part: Haslett, who was happy to inform newspapers that “I thought we should've had at least another 10 yards” on the spot, appears to be indicating on national TV that he wants the ball at the 45, a 3-yard difference.

Cassel and the Patriots took the favorable ball spot and essentially did the minimum to get Stephen Gostkowski a doable field goal, putting together 28 yards while taking a sack and busting a couple of plays all together. Daresay Gostkowski probably could’ve kicked a 44-yarder as easily as he nailed the drive-ending 41-yarder.

In the end, Haslett himself with sardonic submissiveness espousing the Mom-always-did-like-the-Patriots-best party line admitted that the disputed calls were ultimately “subjective” anyway; meanwhile, Rams offensive guard Richie Incognito provided bulletin-board material: “Never ever, ever, ever played a perfect team before," he pouted. “That's all I am going to say on that one."

Good thing there, because, like so many other instances in which the whining of an ostensibly victimized NFL teams, more talk means more likelihood of the realization that your guys just couldn’t put away the opponent without help.

And in this case, more fuel for the Patriots’ fire. When will they ever learn.?

Fan Pulse: About the only tone wearier than that of those poor oppressed souls having to take on beastly Bill Belichick & Co. are Patriots fans and their own “Here we go again” attitude. PatsFan fan Scottie C. (tagline “Embracing the hate in 2008”) proved a good soldier in submitting a Belichickian opinion that Haslett “needs to prepare his team for the next game and not the distractions that are now about to follow this inane action.”

Additionally, CheerforTom calls out the obvious with “Haslett's STILL complaining about the spot of the punt? Maybe he should consider faulting his punter for making a pathetic kick,” while Joker kicks in cattily, “the Rams would be better served writing the league office and requesting a sex test for Bulger and permission to allow him to take Midol.” Mrrrr-rowr!
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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