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After the thrilling Monday night affair between the Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts, the talk on Tuesday is all about how Darren Sproles is the one of the best weapons in football, the Eagles are legitimate Super Bowl candidates and the Colts are facing those long odds of 0-2 teams making the playoffs (only 11.6% of such teams have played in the postseason since 1990). These are all legitimate topics after Philly’s come-from-behind 30-27 win.
But if not for two egregious officiating mistakes in a three-play stretch, the Colts likely would have won the game, leading to questions about the effectiveness of Nick Foles, why Chip Kelly’s offense struggled in two of its four halves and whether Indianapolis was the legit title contender who was on the field.
This is what’s so fun and so maddening about professional football. One split-second, controversial decision can be the difference between glory and failure.
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The officials’ first, and biggest, mistake came on a 3rd-and-9 with the Colts at the Philly 22-yard line. After stopping the Eagles on their first drive of the fourth quarter, Indianapolis was up by seven points and on a five-minute, eight-play drive that could have sealed the game. Andrew Luck dropped back, looked for T.Y. Hilton, but badly missed him, throwing the ball directly into the hands of Eagles cornerback Malcolm Jenkins.
How did Luck miss his target so badly? Because said target was being held and shoved to the ground.
Instead of a first down at the 18-yard line, or an incompletion that would have led to a 40-yard field goal and a 10-point lead with 5:08 left, the Colts suddenly had turned the ball over while defending a seven-point lead.
Even ESPN’s Jon Gruden, who usually doesn’t spend time ripping officials, couldn’t stop talking about the blown call. It was as easy and obvious a penalty as there is in the NFL, particularly in an era in which seemingly all contact from the secondary gets flagged.
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“I think I had the same view as you did,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said of the play after the game, choosing his words carefully. “It sure looked like it on the Jumbotron. We’ll look at the tape.”
Did the flag clinch the game for the Eagles? Of course not. Neither did a horse-collar penalty on Laron Landry that gave Philly an automatic first down instead of a 3rd-and-6 on the next drive. Gerry Austin, ESPN’s officiating analyst, said that was clearly the wrong call since Landry didn’t have a hand inside LeSean McCoy’s jersey.
It’s one thing to get the calls. It’s another to take advantage. And in the NFL, with its quick, unforgiving 16-game schedule, a controversial win counts the same as any other.
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