FanPost

Shut Up and Play to the Whistle.


While I agree that the number of roughing the passer penalties this season has reached absurd heights, the multiple news stories regarding Breeland Speaks letting Brady go to avoid a roughing call in a 'pivotal' moment of the game is ridiculous. It unfairly weakens what was a signature game of the season for us.

First of all, that moment of the game was not pivotal. Had Speaks brought Brady down, the sack would've been negated by a defensive holding call, and we would have had three (or four) more chances to punch it in. Gonna go ahead and say we'd have been able to get into the end zone anyways.

What's more, nobody seems to be pointing out what actually happened with Speaks. The fact of the matter is Brady fooled him. He thought he let the ball go and let up on the play. He had him wrapped while Brady still had the ball. Even if Brady had thrown it, Speaks would've been well within his rights to keep his momentum and take Brady down--so long as he didn't use excessive force, and land on Brady with his full body weight. Which, judging by how Speaks looked trying to take Brady down would not have happened, as he more or less was arm tackling Brady.

This also has happened before the current state of NFL officiating. For example, in Vince Young's rookie season with the Titans, there was a 4th and long play towards the end of the game against the Giants. Young pump faked, and the Giants defensive lineman let him go, resulting in Young being able to scamper for the yards he needed. There was no blame on the officials for that, everyone called it was it was--a bad play by the Giants player. Skip to the 0:37 mark to see the play I'm referring to:

That's exactly what happened with Breeland Speaks. He made a bad football play. He didn't play to the whistle, which is one of the first things drilled into your head as a football player. I've always thought the blaming an official after a loss is a weak move. And blaming the officials for a play like this, which wouldn't have counted had the Chiefs sacked Brady? Get real. Chalk it up to mainstream sports media trying to undermine what was yet another great performance by Brady and the Pats I guess.

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