https://www.foxnews.com/sports/saints-fans-call-for-rematch-after-controversial-game-sends-rams-to-super-bowl
Oy! So it would seem many fans want a rematch, because a blown call changed the course of the game....and? There are questionable or missed calls in every game. In almost every single instance, they change the course of the game: sometimes subtly, sometimes quite visibly. Having watched this latest game myself, I am quite certain there were other calls that were wrong and could have impacted the outcome. Yes, it sucks that this call came so close to the end, but are we really to believe this was the *one* call in the game that changed the outcome? Certainly not. It almost certainly did change *an* outcome, but had it been called accurately, we would still be able to claim that a less-dramatic missed call also allowed or prevented game-winning points.
There are two things true about this game:
1) If the Saints wanted to win, they had opportunities to play better. After the blown call they could have won by stopping the Rams from scoring...they failed. They could have scored a TD in overtime...they didn't. They could have scored a field goal and then stopped the Rams from responding in kind...they didn't. They could have scored more points in the first half, or the second, or allowed fewer points to the Rams. They didn't.
2) If you're still whining about the outcome, you don't actually like this sport. Yes, a bad call changed the course of the game: that's the nature of Football. Bad calls make the game worse, and we need to minimize every bad or missed call we can, but you'd better play well enough to overcome them all.
What should happen, then? For this game, nothing. So long as no cheating was done, no evidence of a bought-off ref, the word of the refs during the game is the final word. I do believe that the Refs should have more flexibility *during* the game to fix their obvious errors(though what is obvious and what is not is hard to define in a satisfying manner). The current restrictions on reviews is relatively good at preventing abuse and keeping gameplay fast and exciting for fans, but there is certainly room to argue that more calls or non-calls should become reviewable provided it can be done without honest, fast-paced judgement calls being perverted into excuses to change inconvenient outcomes.
In conclusion: If you don't want one bad call to change the outcome, use the dozens of other opportunities to play better, win by large margins, and quit whining.
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