[sportscurmudgeon]

It was pretty obvious that Brady threw the pass you are talking about to no one. He threw it away and it did not reach the line of scrimmage.


Technically, that is a penalty. However, since that rule has been on the books, the way it has been called is that the ball has to "get close to" the line of scrimmage. I can never recall a time when the referees ever marked the spot at which the ball landed and then "measured" with regard to the sideline marker that indicates the line of scrimmage on a given play.


This is sort of like the way the rule is called about offensive linemen having to be on the line of scrimmage. On passing downs, some of them are almost a full yard behind the line as the ball is snapped. The officials have to think that the guy is egregiously off the line before it is called. Technically, the offensive line should be straight as an arrow; how many times - - other than a 3rd and inches situation - - does that happen?


Brady gets breaks in calls because he is on a successful team. That happens to successful teams. It's not right, but that is the way things go down. The Colts get "beneficial calls". In tonight's game, the Saints got away with a couple of holding calls on pass patterns. If that had not been the Saints back there and instead it was the St. Louis Rams, flags would have flown...