Wow. This Sunday might have been the craziest, most controversial Sunday in the history of the National Football League. Ever. If you guys are unaware, the Chiefs played at home against the New England Patriots and were a 3-point favorite while the New Orleans Saints played at home against the Los Angeles Rams and were also a 3-point favorite. The rest will forever be remembered in history.
Gronkowski scoring a Touchdown against the Chiefs
Let’s begin with the first game. Chiefs vs Patriots. After playing in the regular season, the Patriots won that matchup 43-40 with a game winning field goal. All of the analyst were siding with the Chiefs for the playoff rematch, saying that Brady simply did not have enough left in the tank to beat the high-powered offense that the Chiefs had. In fact, many sports commentators thought the game would not even be close. The Patriots went into halftime up 14-0, holding the Chiefs to a season-low of 32 total yards in the half. The second half is where the interesting things really happened. The Chiefs came all the way back to take the lead, only to be tied soon after by the Patriots, sending the game to overtime. The Patriots won the coin toss and drove down the field, scoring a touchdown. Since the Chiefs defense was unable to stop the Patriots offense, the game ended on a Patriots touchdown, and the Patriots won the game, sending them to their third straight super bowl. There is a lot of controversy about how the overtime is played. Given both teams are extremely offensive, many people debate that the game was decided on a coin toss, as if the first team who wins the coin toss score a touchdown, the game is over.
The Controversial Play
Unbelievably, the next game was even more insane. Although the Saints-Rams game was not a rematch, the game had a crazy amount of hype, including the stakes of the winner going to play in the Super Bowl. With only a couple minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Saints were driving down the field. It is 3rd and long, Saints have to convert this first down in order to keep driving, otherwise they will just kick a field goal. A pass goes out to Saints WR Tommylee Lewis and before the pass even gets to the Saints player, Rams CB Nickell Robey-Coleman tackled WR Lewis, drilling him in the head. The stadium froze. The referees never threw a flag. Not only was it a pass interference violation, but also an illegal hit to the head of a defensive receiver. This flag would have ended the game for the Rams, eventually sending the Saints to the playoffs. Instead, the game went to overtime, and the Rams ended up winning on a long field goal. The most interesting part of the call is the fact that the officiating crew was mainly from Southern California, which is the home of the Los Angeles Rams.
Angry Saints fans put up these billboards in Atlanta, home of Super Bowl LIII
Super Bowl LIII Hype Preview
Regardless, the Patriots and Rams will play in Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII. What do you guys think about these calls? I will ad some links and videos of the plays in order to learn more about the major controversy that will go down in history that happened just a couple Sundays ago. Curious on your opinion!
Thank you for reading. Signing off, Woz.
I think it is interesting in sports that there is some element of randomness to it. No matter how well a team is prepared, something as simple as a coin toss can make a large difference. I also don’t understand how a referee can really ever fully be unbiased making their calls. Personally, I don’t like the LA rams because the owners moved them from STL. Stylistically, I enjoy how your blog posts are conversational and informative.