Idle football chatter while waiting for the first time Tony Romo references the high altitude in Denver Sunday, and to add up how often he talks about it . . .
— A word or a hundred about last Saturday’s Buffalo-Denver game. The officiating stunk. I’d use stronger language, but I remember the days when such vulgarity was frowned upon in this, and other, papers.
That play late in the game when Brandin Cooks seemed to have come down with the ball, only to have it stripped away and ruled as an interception, was a disgrace. It may or may not have been a catch, but how about taking a good, long look at it?
Continuing on that theme, Denver’s Riley Moss sure seemed to tackle Cooks with 41 seconds remaining in regulation and Cooks trying to stretch out and catch the ball. No call. In fact, Romo even said that it was a good thing the referees were “letting ’em play.”
That’s why the call a few minutes later that led to Denver’s game-winning field goal was so bogus. Buffalo’s TraDavious White did everything Moss did, nothing more, nothing less. But this time, the referee called interference. White probably shouldn’t have thrown his helmet in frustration, but surely you can understand why he did, right?
— Pity the Los Angeles Rams and whoever plays Seattle in the Super Bowl. That’s all I can say. Even with Sam “I’m seeing ghosts” Darnold at quarterback.
— Sean McDermott is living proof that the NFL really stands for “Not For Long.” Referees make a mess out of the end of Saturday’s game with Buffalo and Denver, and the only one without a job is Bills’ coach McDermott.
And by the way, outside of Josh Allen and a few linemen, the Bills were slow and devoid of big-play offensive players. When your No. 1 receiver is Cooks, you’re in trouble.
— Enough of this nonsense that “if the Bills didn’t turn the ball over so much, those calls at the end wouldn’t have mattered.” Thank you, Captains Obvious.
But . . . they DID happen. And the game DID come down to those calls at the end. The referees DID botch them. And the Bills lost.
— The Patriots were outplayed in large stretches of Sunday’s game. That Houston defense is every bit as good as advertised. But the Texans let the Patriots hang around. And the Patriots made them pay. It’s one of the oldest storylines in sports.
So stop saying the Patriots shouldn’t have won. In the abstract, sure. They shouldn’t have. But the final score is the only number that counts, and the Patriots were ahead by 12 points when the gun sounded.
Instead of complaining about how lucky they were, why can’t people give them credit for taking advantage of enough opportunities to build a fairly comfortable lead, whereas the Texans did not.
As Tom Brady used to say, winning’s hard. However you do it (short of cheating), it’s an accomplishment.
— Speaking of Brady, I always got the impression he had a little Eddie Haskell in him. You know, almost too polite when the cameras were on, but a little rakish otherwise.
Drake Maye seems genuine. Listen to him talk about coach Mike Vrabel after Sunday’s win, admitting he couldn’t figure out Vrabel’s sarcasm. Or his heartfelt comments about injured Broncos quarterback Bo Nix. Maye seems to have an abundance of class, and it seems 100 percent natural.
— I don’t believe Sunday’s game is going to be a cakewalk, even with Jarrett Stidham taking snaps. First, I remember Nick Foles having the game of his life when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Second, having exerted myself plenty at the Grand Canyon a few years ago, I can attest that altitude sickness is very real. And third, the Patriots did play a JV schedule this season and you never know when that’s going to come back and bite you.
— Finally, I would really like to see the Patriots play the Rams. Maye vs. Matthew Stafford. If I had a vote, it would go to Maye. He just about carried that team to some wins. If the knock on the Patriots was they played too many terrible teams, well, Maye made sure they beat those teams into the ground. He had a great season.
