Officials called a ‘tight’ game, but Tom Brady says it’s no excuse
After the Patriots lost to the Carolina Panthers, 33-30 on Sunday, tight end Rob Gronkowski talked about how the game was called a little tighter than previous ones.
“For sure, in some aspects,’’ said Gronkowski, who along with Danny Amendola was whistled for pass interference. “I felt like last week they let us play and [this] week it was a little tight. But it is what it is. The [officials] have a tough job out there . . . you can’t put anything on them.’’
In a radio interview Monday morning, quarterback Tom Brady echoed that sentiment.
“Yeah, I mean they called it pretty tight on us yesterday,’’ Brady said on WEEI. “I’ve watched the film a bunch of times. We just didn’t get the calls. I guess they got the calls and we didn’t get them. I don’t know what to say. Gronk’s doing what he’s got to do to get open. There was such minimal contact and the ref just felt like they were just cued up ready to throw it. It is what it is. We didn’t get it. We overcame that one and the one to Danny, we didn’t overcome. Danny is just trying to get across the guy’s face. The guy kind of contacts him, Danny is trying to shed him on his route. I don’t know what they can do more than that.
“Some weeks you get those calls, some weeks you don’t. We just didn’t get them yesterday, but still we’re not making any excuses. We didn’t get the job done offensively, defensively, special teams — I mean we just have to collectively do a better job if we’re going to win these games.’’
The Patriots were flagged seven times, while the Panthers only had one penalty called against them. The penalties were not limited to the offense. Safety Patrick Chung was whistled for a defensive holding call on a running play, while Stephon Gilmore was twice whistled for illegal use of hands.
“Again, they were calling it tight on us,’’ he said. “From previous [games], that [officiating] crew has called much more penalties on us than the other team. We just have to figure out how to play and tighten it up. If we don’t get the calls, we don’t get them, we still have to go out and play better than we’ve played. It’s just about us doing our job better, all of us. And we can. It’s not like that was the best game we could possibly play and we lost. I think we all know we can play better, and if we play better, we’ll win. But it’s got to be done and just not talked about. That just brings more urgency to everything we’re doing.’’
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady spoke with referee Jerome Boger before Sunday’s game.
Brady was also asked about the quick turnaround for this week, with the Patriots having to play at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
“I don’t know. I don’t mind it, personally,’’ said Brady. “I actually think if you win the game on Thursday, it actually is a real positive because you get kind of the extended break over the next 10 days. You have to win the game. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it physically and mentally over the next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We’re already hitting it pretty hard. It really is a matter of how you play. If you win, I think it is a real positive. Hopefully we can go down to Tampa and win against a good football team.’’
