Klee blog: Shaky officiating dooms Patriots, benefits Broncos
Jack Dempsey
See, that’s why the Patriots have benefited so greatly from playing in the AFC East.
If the Broncos’ 30-24 overtime win against the Patriots had been played at New England’s carnival fun house in Foxboro, it’s probably not a 30-24 overtime win for the Broncos. It’s probably a Patriots win.
The day after, New England fans are shaking their foam fingers over a pair of penalty flags tossed at their beloved late in Sunday night’s memorable, snowy showdown.
One was an offensive pass interference call on Rob Gronkowski that negated a Patriots first down. One was a defensive holding call on Patrick Chung that negated a Patriots sack of Brock Osweiler. Both were huge momentum swings in a game with a million of them.
And neither probably is called in the frigid weirdness of Foxboro. I wrote a blog with Jay Kornegay, the director of the Westgate LV sportsbook in Las Vegas, about a year ago. In it was this nugget: Since the NFL started using video replay, homefield advantage in the NFL does not sway betting lines like it used to. Officials can right their wrong when the play in question is reviewable.
But in a scenario like Sunday night, with a bold crowd bearing down on them, I tend to think officials can be swayed. An audience of 76,000-plus would sway just about anyone. As Kornegay put it, “It’s human nature.”
The point is not that Denver beat New England because of the officiating. Get out of here with that crybaby nonsense. The Broncos went 249 plays without having a flag thrown at their opponent. In other words, their opponents played almost six quarters without breaking a rule. That must be almost impossible.
The point is that New England’s stranglehold on the AFC East — with 5-6 annual gimmes against Larry, Moe and Curly — gives the Patriots a severe edge in the postseason. Division titles get you playoff games at home. Games at home give you a distinct edge with officiating, among other things.
And as we saw Sunday night — and as we see most Januarys in Foxboro — a play or two can mean the difference between a win or a loss.
Brock’s Broncos took a huge step forward in surviving the winter elements and Tom Brady’s Patriots. The next step is catching the Patriots for the top seed, so they don’t have to worry about playoff games on the road, where close calls often lean to the home team.
