posted by Zebra Man on Jan 24
In the two NFL conference championship games played on Sunday, January 24th, 2010, the referees kept their flags in their pockets during two plays that were illegal.
With 7:19 left in the 3rd quarter with the Colts trailing the visiting Jets by 3 points, Colts safety Melvin Bullitt comes on a safety blitz. Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez hands the ball off to running back Thomas Jones who runs for a five yard gain. After the handoff, Bullitt slams his shoulder into Sanchez knocking him to the ground. To add insult to injury, Jets offensive tackle Wayne Hunter is penalized for holding causing Jets head coach Rex Ryan to lose his cool and shout obscenities from the sideline. The Colts win the game and move on to the Super Bowl.
In the second game of the day, the New Orleans Saints were tied with the Minnesota Vikings at 21 points each with 2:06 left on the clock in the 3rd quarter. During a pass attempt which ended up being intercepted, Vikings quarterback Brett Favre is sandwiched high and low by Saints defensive tackle Remi Ayodele and defensive end Bobby McCray. Replays show that McCray dove at the back of Favre’s legs in violation of the NFL’s regulations designed to protect the quarterback. Favre’s ankle needed taped after the play, no flag was thrown, and the Saints proceeded to win the game in overtime for the right to play in the Super Bowl.
The hits on Favre were not the only questionable issues with the referees siding with the Saints on Championship Sunday. Check out the issues that ESPN points out including the phantom pass interference call on Vikings linebacker Ben Leber in overtime –> Video Evidence from ESPN »
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