Game notes

Am I the only one that noticed that there were 5 plays on the red zone stop in the final minute of the game? The Chiefs got 5 plays!!!! They had 2 first downs.

I recorded it on my DVR and have gone back and watched it. The first play Huard threw the ball and one of the Pats caught it out of bounds. Then NE called a timeout. Then when TV returned from the timeout, it was FIRST DOWN AGAIN! This time one of the chiefs bobbled the ball on 1st down. On second down Johnson was stopped for no gain, on third down the ball was batted in the air and was almost an INT and on 4th down O'Neal had great coverage to stop them.

5 freakin' plays!!!! And this doesn't include the 2nd timeout NE used before the 3rd down... Unbelievable that no one noticed this while it was going on, and that no one has been talking about it since.

Funny...Tom used to win Super Bowls and stay healthy before Gisele...

I noticed it and wondered if a penalty had been called on the first play. However, when the ball was still on the 5, there seems to be only two reasons: (1) A timeout was in force even though the play was executed; or (2) Everyone somehow missed the fact that a play had been run. And everyone included the people in the booth, the refs, all the Patriots AND the people responsible for changing the down markers. Very strange.

Belichick had called time out from the sideline and the line judge was trying to stop the first play but the play continued. That is why first down was repeated and they put time back on the clock to :53.

Stephen
There was a time out that was taken just before the play went off, so that first play didn't count.

It was mentioned by the announcer that the Pats had called time out just prior to the snap so that negated the "caught out of bounds" play -so first and goal again...

Stephen, the Patriots called a TO before the first play on which a Patriot caught Huard's pass out of bounds. If you replay your DVR you can hear the whistles (even though the play was allowed to continue) and the announcers mention the TO when play resumed on 1st and 10. It was confusing though and poorly handled by the refs, I'll give you that.

ok so i agree with you!! we rewound it and watched it to make sure we weren't going crazy but they definately had 5 downs.. we musst have missed something but not sure what it was!

They ruled the Pats called timeout prior to the first snap so that first play did not count.

Yo,dude, put down your beer! Watch it again, you'll see that the first time out called by the Pats was whistled before the first play could be stopped so it didn't count.... making it just 1 first down. The first play DIDN'T count!!!

Stephen,

I timeout was called before the 1st play occured so it didn't count. The announcers briefly mention it.

Also Yahoo! reporting Brady done for the whole year [censored]

Stephen -
I noticed the same thing. I was sitting at a bar in Atlanta with my buddy and we're both saying, "Why is it 2nd down again? Why the #%@$ is it 2nd down again?" I couldn't hear a thing from the commentators. Does anyone else have an explanation?

The Pats had called timeout PRIOR to the 1st play.

Stephen,

While it looks like there were 5 plays there were not.

The Patriots actually called time out before the first play. The play would not have counted if KC was able to score. You can hear the whistles blowing before and during the play. The announcers also mentioned after that the play did not count due to the Patriots time out.

There was 5 plays. I was confused as well.

Steve -

The Pats had called time out right before the play took place. The announcers commented on it during the telecast. So, that first down fade to Bowe never really happened.

Brady out for season. ACL. Heinous and rank.

Stephen, on the first play patriots called a timeout just before the play occured, but the whistle wasn't in time/loud enough for the players to stop running the play. Rewind your vcr and notice how patriots lose both timeouts near the beginning of those downs.

Report surfaces on Yahoo that Brady is out of the season. PATS is done!!!

I saw this as well - I couldn't understand it at the time - still don't...

According to the announcer the time out was called BEFORE the play got off on the first 1st down.

Just thought I'd let Boston's "leading news source" know that others are reporting Brady is done for the year, in case y'all are asleep or something.

Stephen...the first play was negated or didn't really happen because the Pats called a time out prior to the snap...

I completely agree. I was watching at a sports bar and was freaking out that the Chiefs had five downs! We couldn't hear the sound at the bar so were unsure what was going on but they definitely had 5 plays! How is nobody talking about this!?!?!!!!!

A timeout was called before the Huard pass that Ellis Hobbs caught out of bounds. The refs confirmed it after the play finished and so first down was replayed. That was the fifth play (and the second first down, because the first play didn't technically exist).

I noticed the 5 downs too!!! I can't believe no one is talking about it. I was watching on a DVR and went back again to doublecheck. During the second play, CBS had a graphic on the field as 2nd down while the down marker and the Scorboard icon said 1st down. How can the NE coaches not notice?

pats called time out before the snap. with the crowd noise no one heard it except one ref.

Stephen, a timeout was called before one of the plays (the first one, I believe). That negates the play, and it remains 1st down.

saw that too Stephen, but the timeout was before that first throw... the whistles were blowing and players were stopping... but huard still threw it..

my brother & i noticed it as well. did anybody else this? do you have any idea mike?

has anyone read this? "Sources: Brady out with ACL tear" there is an article on yahoo sports written by Michael Silver that Brady is out for the season. "While New England coach Bill Belichick said in his postgame press conference that he had no update on the status of Brady’s injury, two sources indicated it involved serious damage to the knee."

yahoo sports has confirmed at 730pm (half hour ago) brady's season is over. where are you boston globe? and your forums website is DOWN. the biggest sports story of the year and boston.com is quiet. hmmmm. at least you don't make up inflamatory stories like that other paper.

ESPN just reported that Brady is done for the year and that the Patriots will stick with Matt at QB. It seems like Trent Dilfer contacted the team and the Patriots stated that Brady was done. Roh roh ..

Yeah, the word from other sites and a team source is; Brady is done for the year.

Yeah, the word from other sites and a team source is; Brady is done for the year.

reiss, get a damn update on brady already.

It was a dirty hit. On the NFL Network they showed a wide shot of the play, and after the defender hit Brady the defender pumped his fist in the air as he came up.

Now, the defender said as soon as he hit Brady he heard him scream and knew it was bad. Um, if you didn't intend on doing some damage you wouldn't be pumping your fist to celebrate.

The league needs to step in and remove dirty players like this. A shame. The best player in the NFL is done due to one players dirty move.

Sticking with Cassel? They absolutely need to bring in veteran competition--Dilfer, Culpepper, Vinny, whoever. With the weapons available, Cassel has a chance at winning some games. I think we can hope for 4-2 in the division and a 10-6 type season. I would find that quite successful under the circumstances.

dirty players are everywhere. Titans are full of them. Sorry to hear about ur QB. no one deserves that. good luck pats.

Mike Reiss is the best in the business. He is not going to give us a speculative report that came from Ron Borges of all people. Pillsbury at that other boston paper is reporting that Borges is his source. All of us are probably closer with the staff of the Patriots than he is. So the other media outlets are going with the two least trusted people in the Boston sports media.

The MRI is being done tomorrow which will provide us with certainty.

A lot of the times when you see an ACL torn the player doesn't walk off the field, but that doesn't mean it isn't a tear.

Man, someone is sleeping at the wheel on this one. No word from the main info site on the Patriots. Somebody say something... This is kind of embarrassing.

Is it just me or is the Globe/Boston.com coverage of the Pats always painfully slow/and or late in reporting? Hello? Anyone there? Reiss? Gasper? Anyone? WEEI, Yahoo and ESPN ALREADY reporting Brady has torn ACL. This is definitely not the source for "breaking" news.

GIVE US THE FORUMS BACK!!! Anyone know why they have been down since Wednesday?

I'm not going to believe any random reports that Brady is out for the season. His MRI is not scheduled until tomorrow, so anything said now is purely speculation.

all the sites are speculating as are all of us, but their "sources" only actual quote is "its not good". that could have been said anywhere by anyone at any point during the game or overheard. we know the Pats are tight lipped and i'm sure Billy B will find out who let out any information and we will see someone fired or released over the next days. I'm as worried as the next guy right now. But lets see what happens and deal with what ever happens. We all thought we were cooked in 2001 too.

There are some pretty simple physical tests a doctor can perform to determine an ACL tear (I know, I'm an ortho in Dallas). The MRI will just determine the severity of the tear (partial or complete) and if there's any collatoral damage to the miniscus, PCL or tendons. The knee does funny things when pulled when there's an ACL tear. Sorry guys.

And I really don't think it was a dirty play. The defender was almost blindly going for the QB and had a blocker on his back. It wasn't a clean dive at his knees. Football is a rough sport and this is one of the most common injuries, as you all know. It happens...it wasn't a dirty shot.