Presser

"I don't really have any comment today about the officiating or any of those calls," Bill Belichick told reporters Tuesday morning. "If you have any questions on that, you can talk to the league office, the officiating department, let them give their explanation on them. It's not really our job to call the games, it's to play it and coach it. There are calls they make, and those are the ones we  live with. We can't let that affect what we're doing."

Leave it to New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick to explain the roles of the officials, coaches, and players during games when reporters really want him to go off on those that might have taken a victory from his team. I love hearing Belichick deal with the press. It's one of the most entertaining events away from the football field. The reporters want answers. They really want answers that create drama. Belichick gives them nothing. It's often quite beautiful. I love seeing the reporters get frustrated with Belichick's lack of cooperation. I realize that the press has a job to do but too many in the press take it way beyond simply reporting the news. Too many want to create a story. Then they beat that story to death. They want drama. They want Belichick to go off. The fact that many in the press keep bringing up his $50,000 fine for confronting a replacement referee last year is an indication of their intention to provoke. This has nothing to do with that but they're pushing it because Belichick gives them nothing. It's a game and the coach isn't playing.

I think that Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly should have been called for interfering with Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. Kuechly kept Gronkowski from being able to compete for the pass. That's pretty much the definition of pass interference. In that sense the Patriots were robbed of a chance to win a pretty important game. They still had to get into the end zone but, in my opinion, a blown call denied them that chance. There was one official on the field that thought Kuechley's actions deserved a penalty seeing as he threw the flag. A conference led to the crew picking up that flag and denying that anything wrong took place. Those are the breaks. Most teams get lucky every once in a while. It guess that it was the Panthers turn.

Belichick was right, and humorous, to designate the responsibilities of those that take part in a football game. Technically, Belichick isn't the one to ask about the call on the field. He wasn't the one that made it. I love that he pointed that out to the hungry press.