That Last Play

Practically before the ball hit the ground, it started on twitter.

Pass Interference! Holding! Something! Anything! Everything! Gotta throw a flag there! Are you kidding me!?!?!?!

Of course, that was occasionally interrupted by: Good non call. Maybe a PI on Gronk.

I'll be the first one to admit that I have no idea what pass interference is anymore. I swear it's a rule installed purely to allow the officials to just decide for themselves who will win the game. It's a coin flip. Which is why so many team have the Heave and Hope as a regular play in their book. But, that's not the point.

As usual, those statements were eventually replaced with: It doesn't matter...first and goal from the goal line, you gotta score there. Can't blame the refs and look for a flag.

To which I always ask, why the heck not?

You hear it every time there's a controversial play in a sporting event. Any game. Any sport. If the call goes against you, you don't complain. You can't whine about the officiating. You just have to make plays. Which always makes me ask, "how come the Seahawks didn't have to 'make the plays'?"

Because, sure. If you have the ball at the one yard line, and can't get the ball in the end zone with four tries, that's pretty pathetic. Only, though, if you get four fair tries. Take this game in particular. First down, they only kinda sort try to score. It makes sense to drain the clock a bit. After all, you have three tries left. Then there's a stuffed run. And a fumbled sneak attempt. All leading to the fade to Gronk. It doesn't matter which one of the three works, as long as one of them does.  But, the Patriots were robbed of that chance. Why is that their problem?

The next response is usually something like: "If they hadn't sucked all game, they wouldn't have been in that position."

Again, true...sort of. Because, apparently they sucked just at the same level as the Seahawks (minus the PI non-call). So, why did the Patriots deserve to lose, but not Seattle? Sure, the Patriots turned the ball over. But, the Seahawks fumbled too. The ref's just chose not to call it a fumble when they did. Why is that on the Patriots?

Why are the Patriots expected to convert their third down, when the Seahawks are allowed to do it while committing the most obvious hold in history?

If the final answer is supposed to be "Don't complain...make plays," how do you make the plays? Don't you make plays by forcing a fumble? Don't you make plays by going after the quarterback on third down? Don't you make plays by setting up the perfect match-up in the end zone? What happens when those "plays" aren't allowed to be made? What then?

And why doesn't Seattle have to make their plays?