Interference penalty wipes out his late TD He ran at the defender and tried to separate, making contact before he did. Therein lies the problem: The officials said it was too much contact. So as Santana Moss dived for what appeared to be a game-tying touchdown, the officials reached for their flag.
The result: an offensive pass interference penalty nullified the score and left Moss fuming after the game. It didn’t help that two plays after the penalty Moss bobbled a catch inside the 10-yard line that led to a game-ending interception.
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“I thought they were going to call it on him,” Moss said of defensive back Julian Edelman. “I’m still finding it hard to believe that it’s all right for someone to mug us at five yards but we can’t get the guy off us. How can I get open if a guy’s going to put his hands on me? It’s wrong, but that’s been going on for years. We’re wrong when we do it, but they’re OK. That’s the rule I guess.”
On the play, Moss was aligned in the right slot and ran at Edelman. They made contact, and Moss’ arms appeared to be extended as Edelman either oversold the penalty by moving back or was genuinely moved. It’s a judgment call.
“All day the guy’s been mugging me,” Moss said. “Every time I try to go around him I’m getting pulled, so I said, ‘OK, I’m not going to go around. I’m going to go at him.’ If you’re standing still and I’m coming at you, of course we’re going to collide. That’s what happened. … I’m [ticked] off right now.”
Coach Mike Shanahan said he didn’t see a replay of the penalty so he didn’t have a strong opinion of the play. He disagreed vehemently with the roughing the quarterback call on London Fletcher, who hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as he slid.
“I thought it was horrible,” Shanahan said.
But that play didn’t impact the game: The Patriots already were in field goal range, and the drive ultimately ended with a field goal.
Of course, New England’s Andre Carter was flagged for a questionable roughing penalty as well, wiping out an interception and eventually leading to a field goal.
Moss’ play did have an impact.
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on, but we have to play against the team and the ref,” Moss said. “It’s like that.”
