Comments on: 50th Anniversary Minute – 1976 Patriots http://www.patriotsdaily.com/2009/09/50th-anniversary-minute-%e2%80%93-1976-patriots/ New England Patriots Blog Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:51:23 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Arnold Oppenheim http://www.patriotsdaily.com/2009/09/50th-anniversary-minute-%e2%80%93-1976-patriots/comment-page-1/#comment-10241 Arnold Oppenheim Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:09:19 +0000 http://www.patriotsdaily.com/?p=4155#comment-10241 Another bad call: Sam Cunningham ran out of bounds with what looked like a clinching first down. However, the ref spotted the ball about 1 1/2 feet from that mark; just enough to call for a measurement: the measurement was just short. Spotted properly, the Pats would have had their first down and all the other bad calls would not have seen the light of day. As far as Sugar Bear's roughing the passer. I recall, that night on Boston television, there was one angle (out of three or four) which did show that Hamilton had actually (barely) grazed Stabler, so it is not true that he did not touch him at all. Another bad call: Sam Cunningham ran out of bounds with what looked like a clinching first down. However, the ref spotted the ball about 1 1/2 feet from that mark; just enough to call for a measurement: the measurement was just short. Spotted properly, the Pats would have had their first down and all the other bad calls would not have seen the light of day.
As far as Sugar Bear’s roughing the passer. I recall, that night on Boston television, there was one angle (out of three or four) which did show that Hamilton had actually (barely) grazed Stabler, so it is not true that he did not touch him at all.

]]> By: Arnold Oppenheim http://www.patriotsdaily.com/2009/09/50th-anniversary-minute-%e2%80%93-1976-patriots/comment-page-1/#comment-10240 Arnold Oppenheim Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:03:33 +0000 http://www.patriotsdaily.com/?p=4155#comment-10240 After Vilipiano held Francis, and the pass fell incomplete, he started to yell at the ref about the bad call, until he realized there was no call at all. After Vilipiano held Francis, and the pass fell incomplete, he started to yell at the ref about the bad call, until he realized there was no call at all.

]]> By: Scott http://www.patriotsdaily.com/2009/09/50th-anniversary-minute-%e2%80%93-1976-patriots/comment-page-1/#comment-9346 Scott Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:13:13 +0000 http://www.patriotsdaily.com/?p=4155#comment-9346 Great stuff Tony. Thanks for sharing it here. Great stuff Tony. Thanks for sharing it here.

]]> By: Tony http://www.patriotsdaily.com/2009/09/50th-anniversary-minute-%e2%80%93-1976-patriots/comment-page-1/#comment-9323 Tony Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:45:11 +0000 http://www.patriotsdaily.com/?p=4155#comment-9323 The loss to the Colts still rankles me more than any other, because it was the Colts and Polian, who's made it his mission in life to try to destroy the Pats through his influential seat on the Competition Committee. A most loathsome character is he. I still see red when I see that ludicrous flag being thrown against Troy Brown for offensive pass interference late in the 2nd quarter--the single most important play of that game, because the Pats were up 21-3 and had just completed a pass to Ben Watson down to about the Indy 20-yard line with about 3 minutes left in the half. They certainly would have come away with at least 3 points there to make it at least 24-3. But that call basically killed that drive, forced the Pats to punt and gave Manning a chance to put up some points before halftime, which he did (a FG to make it 21-6). There's a BIG difference between 21-6 at the half and 24-3 or even 28-3. That game was OVER if the refs don't thrown that flag against Brown (Troy called it the worst call ever against him during his long career). The Super Bowl loss to the Giants, while devastating, doesn't bother me as much for some reason. 2007 was at the same time both an awesome and frustrating season. The constant negative media coverage of the team over Spygate and running up the score and everything else really wore on me as the year went on. Then came Tomase's b.s. "walkthrough" story, which ruined the Super Bowl weekend for me even before they lost the game. On top of all that, I had the feeling that the Pats were just "hanging on" down the stretch and through the playoffs in 2007; they had peaked too soon and the pressure of trying to go undefeated was also wearing on them. In retrospect, losing the Super Bowl was a surprise, but not really a shock. The loss to the Colts in 2006 still kills me though. I still hate to think about that game and the bad calls, the injuries on defense, the flu going through the locker room that week, the missed opportunities...UGH. The loss to the Colts still rankles me more than any other, because it was the Colts and Polian, who’s made it his mission in life to try to destroy the Pats through his influential seat on the Competition Committee. A most loathsome character is he. I still see red when I see that ludicrous flag being thrown against Troy Brown for offensive pass interference late in the 2nd quarter–the single most important play of that game, because the Pats were up 21-3 and had just completed a pass to Ben Watson down to about the Indy 20-yard line with about 3 minutes left in the half. They certainly would have come away with at least 3 points there to make it at least 24-3. But that call basically killed that drive, forced the Pats to punt and gave Manning a chance to put up some points before halftime, which he did (a FG to make it 21-6). There’s a BIG difference between 21-6 at the half and 24-3 or even 28-3. That game was OVER if the refs don’t thrown that flag against Brown (Troy called it the worst call ever against him during his long career).

The Super Bowl loss to the Giants, while devastating, doesn’t bother me as much for some reason. 2007 was at the same time both an awesome and frustrating season. The constant negative media coverage of the team over Spygate and running up the score and everything else really wore on me as the year went on. Then came Tomase’s b.s. “walkthrough” story, which ruined the Super Bowl weekend for me even before they lost the game. On top of all that, I had the feeling that the Pats were just “hanging on” down the stretch and through the playoffs in 2007; they had peaked too soon and the pressure of trying to go undefeated was also wearing on them. In retrospect, losing the Super Bowl was a surprise, but not really a shock.

The loss to the Colts in 2006 still kills me though. I still hate to think about that game and the bad calls, the injuries on defense, the flu going through the locker room that week, the missed opportunities…UGH.

]]> By: Angry Old Bastard http://www.patriotsdaily.com/2009/09/50th-anniversary-minute-%e2%80%93-1976-patriots/comment-page-1/#comment-9305 Angry Old Bastard Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:16:04 +0000 http://www.patriotsdaily.com/?p=4155#comment-9305 I remember I was 13 years old and reduced to tears after that game. For 30 years it was the most heartbreaking defeat in Patriots history. Then came the 2006 loss to the Colts in the AFC Championship game which trumped the game against the Raiders AND THEN came the loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl which trumped the game against the Colts............I now rank the game against the Raiders as the 3rd most heartbreaking defeat in Patriots history........ I remember I was 13 years old and reduced to tears after that game. For 30 years it was the most heartbreaking defeat in Patriots history. Then came the 2006 loss to the Colts in the AFC Championship game which trumped the game against the Raiders AND THEN came the loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl which trumped the game against the Colts…………I now rank the game against the Raiders as the 3rd most heartbreaking defeat in Patriots history……..

]]> By: Tony http://www.patriotsdaily.com/2009/09/50th-anniversary-minute-%e2%80%93-1976-patriots/comment-page-1/#comment-9295 Tony Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:58:17 +0000 http://www.patriotsdaily.com/?p=4155#comment-9295 I think worse than the Dreith call, which was terrible, was the non-call on the Patriots' last possession of the game. Needing a first down to finish off Oakland, Grogan fired a pass that Russ Francis could only get one hand on--because Oakland LB Phil Vilapiano had a firm, death-like grip on Francis' other arm. It clearly was defensive holding or pass interference, but there was no call. John Smith missed a long field goal attempt on the next play (out of his range, really, and Chuck Fairbanks probably should have opted for a pooch punt there), and the Raiders took over on their final, fateful, Dreith-altered possession after that. I think worse than the Dreith call, which was terrible, was the non-call on the Patriots’ last possession of the game. Needing a first down to finish off Oakland, Grogan fired a pass that Russ Francis could only get one hand on–because Oakland LB Phil Vilapiano had a firm, death-like grip on Francis’ other arm. It clearly was defensive holding or pass interference, but there was no call. John Smith missed a long field goal attempt on the next play (out of his range, really, and Chuck Fairbanks probably should have opted for a pooch punt there), and the Raiders took over on their final, fateful, Dreith-altered possession after that.

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