These are professionals at the highest level of their professions. The officiating should also be at the highest level.

I don't know at what level you coached but these are not children being taught to respect the officals no matter what, as I was taught, which is a good thing.

This was clear. It was a violation of the rules without consequence. There is a remedy for it. Goodell should declare a replay of the game or issue some kind of statement explaining why not.

I would think if he were to explain that a replay would disrupt the entirety of the NFL, cost millions of dollars, be a logistical nightmare and, in all practicality, is an impossibility, then so be it.

The refs clearly screwed up.

How can you put yourself in a position to win no matter what when calls as egregious as this are allowed to stand?

I really don't care who wins, believe it or not. I do care about the integrity of playing by the rules.

Calls are calls in the game, it is part of the game. I am not defending the call , it was a penalty. It was stupid of me to post because we are arguing logic vs. emotion. The Saints put themselves in a position to win and Breez threw an INT but that is silly to bring up. We lost a CIF title game when I protested a receiver push off on our Dback. Guess what, if we scored more we would have won. Feel free to continue to be offended.

I'm not offended in the least, but thank you anyway.

And I am not being emotional either.

You agree it was a bad call. It can easily be described as a calamity for which there is a remedy in the books (which is also a part of the game) that is not being pursued without a rationale or even an explanation as far as I know.

However, in all practicality it may be best for the league in the long to simply let it go just to end the controversy. I understand that.

It should never be let go again. And it definitely should never be let go, unexplained.

You are right, but why stop at his call, we should review every play for every holding call( which is rarely enforced) every encroachment( which the offending player is usually warned multiple times before a flag) every sideline foul ( which the offending team is warned multiple times before a flag is thrown) every PI that the DBs are warned about before a flag is thrown. We should spend days analyzing the film before a winner is declared, or we could do it during the game and have it last 6 hours. There is a penalty on Every play of the game, which ones do you want to enforce?

No. That is ridiculous. This was not simply a missed hold or encroachment or common personal foul. This can be described as a calamity, a bar set very high by the rules affording the judgement of the commissioner the sole responsilbity for providing a remedy.

I would want a clear and calamitous violation of a scoring play in a championship game enforced. if there ever was such a thing, this was it.

Why are those fouls any less? An encroachment penalty helped to decide to the KC patriots game, right?

you can't pick and choose what you want to be offended about, but in these times I guess you can.

KC encroachment penalty on an INT play basically let the Patriots off the hook.

I don't know, Patrick. I actually don't follow football very closely. Usually I watch a game and five minutes later I couldn't even tell you who won and sometime even who the teams were. I watch it for the athleticism and the precision of all involved, including the officials.

But this time, I saw a team in a championship game get royally screwed by a non-call for a violent violation in the end-zone in the plain sight of an official.

And I am not offended.

When I was a kid on the playground, we self-officated each other with better results....I'm just sayin'.

Fix it....

Well that makes two of us. I’m just not terribly into the hero worship aspect that so many are. Sucks cause I really can’t contribute to many conversations about games since I don’t know each guys stats and history.

Replay Q4.

This reminds me of a saying I heard "Life should be more like ice hockey. When you get mad, beat the crap out of each other and then go sit in the penalty box for 5 minutes and be over it"

Although I couldn't give a rip about the NFL or any of the teams, I am interested in this topic because I have seen the Bruins suffer a major injustice that decided important games (more than once). Yeah, I know, I'm starting to sound like Sid Crosby.

Part of me says "but its not fair". Then I think, life isn't fair-get over it. We know bad calls happen because the refs are human and they make mistakes.

Do over? Sounds like a good idea but there are inequities there also. The conditions aren't the same as they were on the spot at that game. That causes the possibility that one team gets an advantage. Then, it opens the door to the question that has been asked "where does it stop?" Also, every pro league goes to great lengths to protect the refs. Otherwise, they would be second guessed and challenged into worthlessness.

IMO (that no one asked for), if there is such overwhelming evidence that the call was blatantly screwed up. I would be calling for an investigation to see if there was bias that caused the bad call and, at the very least, sanctions against the official. Just like players who are suspended for a term due to bad behavior. That won't fix the team that was wronged but at least the league takes ownership for their employee screw up.

You don't "get" why I like football...none of the above apply to me. When I said "fix it" before, I meant the rules...that game is over, move on.

I like Brees...was pullin for NO....didn't care who won. Awesome game :)

KC I've no idea what you are talking about.

A missed hold call has exactly the same potential to decide the outcome of a game so I'm not sure what the point was there.

Saints had opportunities to make plays. They didn't. They lost.

The missed call was inexcusable. I feel bad for the Saints. They ain't gonna replay the game. They are not going to restart the game from the time of the infraction ..

I hate instant replay. It destroys the flow of the game.

Wow , this is getting a little ridiculous on social media here. My boss is a Saints season ticket holder, they are rumored to be suing the NFL. Kinda funny in a way. I am not a big football fan so...

Holds get missed. Probably a lot of holds get missed on both sides of the ball in every game. There's little doubt about that. All the teams know it, accept it and try to play the game.

The missed call in question is too obvious, too blatant and should not be tolerated. In football, as in any sport, some kind of give and take is necessary like balls and strikes in baseball, or whatever.

I'd feel exactly the same if some guy hits a home run, clearly in the bleachers in fair territory, in the playoffs with a tied score, in front of millions of people but the ump inexplicably calls it a foul ball. Does that mean umps calling balls and strikes is fatally flawed?

Belichek, I think it's Belichek, is advocating automatic review of all plays in the end zone. Somebody else is advocating the mechanization of calling balls and strikes. Maybe that's where we're headed, the eventual elimination of officials. I can see that happening.

So, hypothetically, should they have made the call and the FG got flubbed, did that flubbed FG cost them the game? Or was it a bad block 3 plays earlier that would have gotten them to where it made that pass a touchdown, or...

One play does not make or break a game. Emotionally it is difficult because we want fairness, but this is life.

On a side note, I don't like Tom or Drew. Drew was a sissy momma's boy when he was in San Diego. I understand he grew up, but he will always be that player he was in SD to me.