marty
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Joined: 12/28/2007
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Newton made some fantastic plays, but also made some really bad plays and bad throws. He didn't look confident at crunchtime, and the Packers looked like champs, like they know what to do at crunchtime.
The Packers were flagged a lot, and pretty much every flag seemed legitimate except where Bishop was called for a late hit on the QB in the 2nd quarter. I thought that was unfair, but then they flagged a Panther for almost the same thing later in the 2nd half. There was plenty of PI called on the Pack, but they also called several picks on the Panther WRs. Lots of activity with the Packer 2ndary, that's a norm.
If these 2 calls weren't so significant, I wouldn't mention them:
1) Carolina probably would have had an easy FG before the half, but on a 3rd down conversion, a Carolina WR was flagged for offensive PI that was as one announcer said, 'the kind of checking you see on every play', and the defender could have also been flagged on the same play. Maybe THIS was a makeup call for the late hit penalty on Bishop (but the Packers also got the same call in the 2nd half), or the refs feeling like they have to make a call with all the contact going on, along with plenty of jawing, when the Packer 2ndary is on the field.
2) 12:54 left to go in the 4th quarter, Panthers with the ball on the Packers' 35, and Newton throws from the 42 to Steve Smith at the 4 yard line. Charles Woodson has his arm across Steve Smith's body and his left hand is on top of Steve Smith's left hand preventing it from moving up. Woodson trips, and after he releases, Smith stops quickly (maybe that's what made Woodson fall) and just about makes an amazing catch at the 4 yard line. Smith still could have caught the ball after the interference, but couldn't hang onto it.
It was obvious PI to on Woodson, and a flag was thrown. Then the officials had a conference and decided there was no foul for PI ???? A commentator stated, "you know what, I like that. I like that right there. When you've got Steve Smith, and you've got Charles Woodson, two great players just BATTLING it out down the field for the football in the air, man let 'em play a little bit. Let's not nitpick. I like that pickup right there of the flag. "
I couldn't disagree more with that announcer. The problem is, Steve Smith did NOTHING to Woodson, no pushoff, he just stopped quickly. Watching in slo-mo, Woodson tripped on his own feet or just fell down. Woodson clearly interfered, and it would have been more obvious if the ball had come a tad sooner. Smith still had a chance to catch the ball, but had to reset himself after the contact, and almost adjusted to make the catch.
The problem with this 'just let them play', is that there are rules, and if a defender is allowed to do all that, what Woodson did, it gives them an unfair advantage. Woodson had also gotten away with a clear hands to the face at the line of scrimmage earlier in the game, and who knows what else. Now, I suppose you could have the refs go to other teams CBs before the game and tell them that THEY will be allowed in this game to make more contact and interference before the ball gets there because we will be allowing Woodson to do it, but maybe those defenders aren't used to being allowed to doing that much in other games.
I think the Panthers probably would have found a way to lose the game, even if the refs had went the other way on these 2 mentioned calls. They were just a poor offensive PI call, and a poor decision to not enforce the PI rule on Woodson, I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because the Pack are champs, or they don't want to overdo PI calls, or the fact that Smith still could have made the catch, and the interference didn't occur the moment the ball came into Smith's hands ? I think it's still interference, and it should have been called.
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