>>>>I give the Broncos credit. They beat the Patriots, which I didn't think they would. Talk about a game changing play -- Champ Bailey intercepting a pass that would have put the Pats ahead and taking it 100 yards the other way. He ... could ... go ... all ... the ... way. He didn't, but the Broncos punched it in from the 1 on the next down.
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>>Not having read a great deal of this thread, I probably missed the comments on this play. Just curious.........
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>>1. How many of you think that he ran out of gas at the end of the play or was slowing down because he didn't imagine anybody catching up to him? I tend to the second view and think the announcers were covering up for a legitimate (and deserved) superstar. (I also DON'T equate this with Leon Lett's showboating)
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>I think he thought he was home free. Hopefully, he learned a lesson.
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>>2. How amazing is it that a Tight End of all people was able to catch up with him while having to run further with no starting momentum?
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>NFL players are not normal people. I know a guy who played under Vince Lombardi with the Packers. He wasn't really a starter, but what an athelete. He is 6'4" and when he was 20 years younger(I've known him for 30 years) he weighed about 190 and could dunk a basketball. He moved like a cat and could run forever. Strong as a bull moose.
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>>3. How many of you think the fumble was (1) clearly through the end zone and should have been a touchback (2) clearly OB in front of the pylon (3) too close to call and therefore non-reversable? I admit to having a rooting interest in the Pats, but every time I saw a replay I felt there was no way the ball could have landed where it did having crossed in front of the pylon.
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>I think it was too difficult to call, so they HAD to go with the play as it was called on the field.
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>As for the other interference call against Assante Samuel, it could have gone either way. Denver just played smash-mouth football, which is the way next weekend's game will be played. It should be a good game with Denver winning by 10 or more.

Nah. I didn't really care much who won that game, but there is no doubt in my mind that the refs handed the Broncs 10 points in Christmas wrap. That interference call was clearly receiver interference. He grabbed Samuel's shoulder pads from behind. And then they missed the motion call? I don't know if the game would have turned out differently if the refs had been the least bit competent, but now we'll never know. For the record, I agree that they could not reverse the fumble call because there was no camera angle that showed definitively what happened.