Ben Watson chased down Champ Bailey Stephen Gostkowski Jerseys 2019 , but was ultimately screwed by the refs." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhitePats Pulpita New England Patriots communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpPatriots NewsOpinion and AnalysisContribute!About the SiteTopicsPatriotsOddsShopStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementFiled under:Patriots AnalysisPatriots First ReadWhat if the Ben Watson play was called correctly?New,65commentsBen Watson chased down Champ Bailey, but was ultimately screwed by the refs. EDTShareTweetShareShareWhat if the Ben Watson play was called correctly?Since Ben Watson has recently rejoined the New England Patriots, I thought the second “What If” article should be about his play against Denver in the AFC Divisional Game in the 2005 season. It is, in my opinion, one of the worst calls in NFL history (there might be an article coming about another one some time soon). The ramifications from that play could have changed the outcome of not only the game, but the entire playoffs that season. With 1:03 left in the third quarter of a 10-6 game, Tom Brady took the snap from the Broncos’ 5-yard line. Pressure from safety Nick Ferguson forced him right, and he threw a pass off his back foot, into the end zone, towards Troy Brown. Champ Bailey stepped in front of the pass, intercepted it, and raced up the Broncos sideline. After stepping out of a tackle by Kevin Faulk at the 45, it looked as though there was only grass between Bailey and the end zone. Then, just as he was about to score, Watson sent him, and the ball, flying into the end zone. Well, at least we know the ball went into the end zone. The refs, one of whom Watson passed on his way to tackle Bailey, said the ball went out at the 1, and, instead of it being and touchback and Patriots ball at the 20, Mike Anderson got his second 1-yard rushing touchdown of the day. The review looked to clearly show the ball out of bounds in the end zone, but it was a tough call to overturn. Although Bailey never went out of bounds until he was in the end zone, and the ball was in his inside hand when it was knocked away, there just isn’t a conclusive picture.Here is a frame by frame shot of the play (h/t to SlotMachinePlayer):The ball clearly didn’t break the laws of physics and take a sharp left turn out of bounds at the 1. The problem is, there isn’t a perfect camera angle that shows that. You can use Bailey’s body to judge that the ball was just passing out of bounds in the end zone White Matthew Slater Jerseys , but you can’t exactly tell, and so the call stood. Again, I consider it to be one of the worst calls in NFL history, but when you’re using the instant replay, I don’t know if you can cite Isaac Newton as to why it got overturned. Without a conclusive picture, they were forced to stick with the terrible call on the field. The question I’m trying to answer is: would the Patriots have won the game if the Watson play was called correctly? They ultimately lost by 14 points, and were a complete mess the entire game. The Patriots ended the game with five turnovers, two of them happening in the last two minutes of the first half, with the Patriots up 3-0. First, Kevin Faulk fumbled at the Patriots 40, then Asante Samuel was called for a terrible pass inference penalty in the end zone on the next play.Mike Anderson punched it in from 1-yard on the very next snap. On the ensuing kickoff, Ellis Hobbs was tackled by the kicker, Todd Sauerbrun (who ended up playing for the Patriots the following year) and fumbled, leading to a Broncos field goal. Then, with ten minutes left and the Patriots trailing by eleven points, Troy Brown muffed a punt inside the Patriots 20. Three plays later, the Broncos went up by 18, and the comeback was hopeless. Would all of those things be different if the Watson play had been called correctly? Probably not, but, instead of an easy touchdown and an eleven-point Broncos lead, the Patriots would have had the ball, and the momentum of a great play. I think that they could’ve ended up pulling that game out. If they had, they would’ve gotten the Steelers in Foxboro the next week after Pittsburgh beat the Colts in perhaps the craziest finish to a football game ever.Indianapolis was trailing by three with under two minutes left and had just turned the ball over on downs. The Steelers had the ball at the Colts’ 2-yard line, and they handed it off to Jerome Bettis. He fumbled, and the ball was picked up by Nick Harper. Harper had been stabbed in the leg by his wife in the week leading up to the game, and so he may have been slowed down just a bit, and he was tackled by Ben Roethlisberger, the only man standing between him and the end zone. I swear real life is crazier than fiction. If you made up the Nick Harper story everyone would call it dumb storytelling Matthew Slater Jerseys 2019 , but it was just dumb luck. Mike Vanderjagt went out and shanked the potential game-tying field goal, and the Steelers were on their way to the AFC Championship Game. The Steelers beat the Broncos, and went on to beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl as well. Would they have been able to go into Foxboro and beat the team that destroyed them in the playoffs the year before? They had already lost to the Patriots in New England once that year. If the Patriots were able to win that game, they would’ve been headed to their third straight Super Bowl and a very beatable Seahawks team. Tom Brady could have seven rings if one simple call had been made correctly. So, there’s no real way to know what would’ve happened. It’s at least plausible, though, and I think it likely that the Patriots would’ve at least been heading to their third straight Super Bowl. Honestly, one of the things I hate most is that it was such an amazing play, but one that many just can’t appreciate fully because it happened during a playoff loss. Pat is a host of The Patriot Nation PodcastInteract with him on Twitter @plane_pats FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Seventeen years ago, Tom Brady was 24 years old and in his second NFL season when he led the Patriots to a last-second victory over the St. Louis Rams for New England’s first Super Bowl title.Four rings later, Brady will arrive in Atlanta for the Patriots’ Super Bowl matchup with the Los Angeles Rams having already established himself as the most-decorated Super Bowl quarterback in league history.But as Brady prepares to play in his ninth Super Bowl, he will have another chance to do something no other NFL player has done.If New England beats Los Angeles, the 41-year-old quarterback will break a tie with Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley and become the first player to win six rings.But to his coaches, teammates and admirers across the sporting world, he already stands alone.Known to Brady affectionately as “Jules,” receiver Julian Edelman called it an honor to be a part of the quarterback’s career.“He’s a really good football player,” Edelman said. “The best. And he goes out and he consistently proves it.”Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has caught more passes from Brady than any other player and will play alongside him in a Super Bowl for the fourth time. He said Brady’s approach has been the same since their first practice together back in 2010.“The guy is just so precise with everything. Just the way he is out on the field, the way he prepares,” Gronkowski said. “You know every single time you’re going to get the best out of him no matter what the situations are.”After New England’s divisional-round win over the Chargers, Brady was openly miffed about what he perceived as pessimism outside of the Patriots’ locker room about their chances of reaching a third straight Super Bowl following a regular season which they started 1-2 and lost five games.“I know everybody thinks we suck and, you know, we can’t win any games,” Brady said. “We’ll see. It’ll be fun.”A week later, Brady led the Patriots on a winning drive in overtime to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game — his 12th such drive in the postseason in the fourth-quarter or overtime.The next day he posted a video on Instagramof himself and Gronkowski walking to the team bus after the game.Both are smiling and Gronkowski flashes his AFC championship T-shirt.It was the kind humble brag that Brady has steered away from in the past.But this postseason he has been more open with his emotions and acknowledged after the AFC title win he was “as excited as I have been in a long time.”“When you have 70,000 people cheering against you, it is pretty sweet when you win on the road,” Brady said.On Twitter White Devin McCourty Jerseys , congratulations came from all corners of sports.Among them was one from Paul Pierce , who helped lead the Celtics to the NBA championship in 2008. “There’s aliens there’s Pegasus and there’s Tom Brady,” Pierce wrote.Left tackle Trent Brown is in his first season in New England after being traded to the Patriots last April. He said sharing the huddle with Brady has lived up to his expectations.“There’s one word, G.O.A.T. That’s it,” Brown said. “He’s one of those great leaders and it trickles down to the rest of the team.”Brown is a member of a starting lineup on offense that, excluding Brady, has an average age of 27.Brady’s continued ability to lead and inspire teammates more than a decade his junior is a unique skill, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said.“He communicates well with every player,” McDaniels said. “One of the things that’s always impressed me is how he’s one of the first guys in the building to know a new person’s name, which speaks to how important that is to him, to introduce himself to somebody and also get to know that person, whether it be a practice squad player, a rookie, whatever it is.”Brady’s introductions to new players is always the same. At some point after they arrive Brady seeks them out, walks up and says plainly, “Hi, I’m Tom Brady.”Linebacker Kyle Van Noy said he still remembers his reaction to hearing those words.It was October 2016 and Van Noy, following a trade from Detroit, arrived at the team facility about 5:30 a.m.. Hours later while on a restroom break from a meeting, he turned and saw an outstretched hand.“Tom comes up and kind of shakes my hand like, ‘Hi, I’m Tom Brady.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re an idiot.'” Van Noy said.But he said the moment was emblematic of a player he has no doubt will be at his best on Super Bowl Sunday.“Those little things are why he’s where he’s at,” Van Noy said. “Those little things that people don’t pay attention to, those detailed things, that just separates him. He’s really good at what he does. … That’s what makes him Tom.”