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SPORTS Wednesday 11 december 2019

Patriots go from very bad luck to very bad look

ARNIE STAPLETON line," Boger said. "So, they
AP Pro Football Writer got together and con-
One day, things aren't look- ferred on that. The final rul-
ing good at all for the New ing was that he was out of
England Patriots. The next, bounds at the 3-yard line."
the defending champs are Because all scoring plays
grappling with a very bad are reviewed, a ruling of
look. touchdown would have
A day after officiating blun- ultimately gotten the call
ders and another poor right, but Boger said he
passing performance by wasn't inclined to overrule
Tom Brady were the big- his crew mates to get to the
gest takeaways from New fail-safe automatic review.
England's first home loss in "Those two officials who are
two years, the Patriots ac- covering it, they look at it in
knowledged that a video real time," Boger said. "This
crew working for the team case was unique in that the
filmed the Cincinnati side- guy who would have ruled
line during the Bengals' touchdown had him short.
game at Cleveland. So maybe if the ruling of-
Cincinnati plays New Eng- New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick watches from the sideline in the second half of ficial on the goal line had
land this weekend. an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019, in Foxborough, Mass. a touchdown, we could
Yes, another camera- Associated Press have gotten into that, but
spying flap from the team he thought that that guy
that brought the term "Spy- "immediately turned over video crew was completely The play is blown dead, stepped out of bounds. The
gate" into the NFL lexicon all footage to the league separate from the football however, and Kelce ruled goal line wasn't in the play."
in 2007 when the Patriots and cooperated fully," the staff: "We have absolutely down by contact. Belichick 3. Officials missed a defen-
were caught videotaping team said. nothing to do with anything uses his final challenge and sive pass interference by
opposing team signals in Spygate, as The AP's Jimmy that they produce or direct the call is overturned. New cornerback Kendall Fuller
a scandal that cost them Golen wrote, helped fuel a or shoot. I have never seen England gets the ball at its on a deep pass to Phillip
a first-round draft pick and widespread distrust of the any of their tapes or any- 43. Dorsett with 3½ minutes re-
$250,000 and made Bill team that reverberated thing else. This is something 2. The Patriots quickly drive maining that would have
Belichick's bank account a decade later when the that we 100% have zero in- to the Kansas City 15 and spotted the ball at the
$500,000 lighter. Patriots were accused of volvement with." N'Keal Harry is ruled out Kansas City 6. The non-call
Crucial calls made in the fi- illegally deflating footballs It hardly seems necessary of bounds at the 3 after brought up fourth-and-6
nal minute of the Dolphins- used in the 2015 AFC cham- for the Patriots (10-3) to an apparent touchdown at the Kansas City 29 and
Jets game and the 49ers- pionship game. Brady was need special intel on the catch from Brady with 13:22 Brady scrambled for 17
Saints showdown in a wild suspended four games, signals of the Bengals (1- remaining in the game. TV yards for a first down.
Week 14 were overshad- and the team was fined $1 12). Then again, the Patri- replays show Harry stayed But on fourth-and-3 from
owed by the Patriots' mush- million and docked anoth- ots' past rap sheet means inbounds on what should the Kansas City 5-yard line,
rooming problems. er first-round draft pick. football fans outside New have been ruled a score. Bashaud Breeland expertly
In a statement posted A few years after Spygate, England don't give them Belichick is out of challeng- defended Brady's pass to
on Twitter and the team Josh McDaniels, who was the benefit of the doubt. es after losing one in which Julian Edelman in the end
website, the Patriots said head coach in Denver On Sunday, the Patriots he asked for a better spot zone and knocked it away.
a three-person crew for a between stints as Brady's didn't get the calls that and offensive pass interfer- Game over.
web series titled "Do Your offensive play caller, was seemingly always went ence on a play earlier in Brady's 169 yards passing
Job" "inappropriately filmed fired in the aftermath of their way at Gillette Sta- the game but lost on both were his second-fewest this
the field from the press box" a video scandal in which dium. counts. season, and the Patriots'
as part of a feature on the Steve Scarnecchia, the son There were three big ques- Three plays later, New Eng- 21-game home winning
scouting department. The of longtime Patriots offen- tionable rulings by referee land settled for a field goal streak, tied for longest in
filming took place "with- sive line coach Dante Scar- Jerome Boger's crew in to get to 23-16. franchise history, was also
out specific knowledge necchia and who followed New England's 23-16 loss to Boger told a pool reporter finished.
of league rules," the state- McDaniels to Denver, ille- Kansas City: after the game that the Boger only addressed Har-
ment said. gally filmed the 49ers' prac- 1. Travis Kelce's fumble in covering official on the ry's TD-that-wasn't after the
The Patriots said the Browns, tice ahead of a 2010 game the waning seconds of the Harry play was blocked out game, not Kelce's fumble,
the home team, granted against the Broncos in Lon- third quarter. Hit by Devin by defenders. the uncalled pass interfer-
the crew credentials but in don. McCourty, the Chiefs tight "The downfield official who ence or Donte Hightower's
an "unintended oversight," Asked about the latest vex- end fumbles the football was on the goal line and late shove that sent Patrick
the team failed to inform ing videotape reports dur- and Stephon Gilmore re- looking back toward the Mahomes tumbling into the
the Bengals or the NFL and ing his radio show on Mon- covers with plenty of room field of play had that he team's coolers that drew
when confronted, the crew day, Belichick told WEEI the to run toward the end zone. stepped out at the 3-yard no flag.q