New England Patriots: Just imagine if Zach Ertz’s TD was overturned
By Tommy Butler
Zach Ertz’ diving catch into the end zone that sealed the game for the Philadelphia Eagles over the New England Patriots was called correctly after review, and nobody should deny that.
With the New England Patriots up 33-32, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz hauled in a pass from Nick Foles with 2:21 left in the game, took two steps and dove into the end zone. Just after crossing the goal line, Ertz lost the ball as it connected with the turf.
Clearly the play was a touchdown, or so every sane football fan thought until the referees decided to review the play.
The most important review in Philadelphia sports history
The review, lasting nearly five agonizing minutes brought up the question, yet again, about what a catch actually is in the NFL. Despite what I, a life-long Patriots fan and everyone else thought, Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth, weren’t sure.
The final conclusion that it was, indeed, a touchdown directly led to the Eagles taking home their first Lombardi Trophy.
The replay of this touchdown will be shown for years to come, to the ire of Pittsburgh Steelers fans, who lost their week 15 matchup with the New England Patriots due to a similar play ruled an incomplete pass.
Patriots fans shouldn’t want the Ertz play overturned
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After years of “the Patriots pay the refs” memes and other typical hate, the Patriots got the short end of the stick for once.
The “touchdown catch” that Corey Clement bobbled in the back of the endzone with just over seven minutes left in the third could have gone either way. Michaels and Collingsworth were fervent that they thought it would be an incomplete pass.
Honestly, my journalist side overtakes my fan side in this case. If we were to say that both were called the way they probably should have been, the Eagles still would have won 34-33. If they were both called incomplete, not only would the overall game story not been nearly as good, but it would have been an incredibly controversial and unearned win.
Sure, six rings would have been amazing, but winning like that wouldn’t have been satisfying at all.
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We are so lucky as fans of Boston sports that we can honestly say “we’ll get them next year.” With that in mind, I’ll keep wearing my Super Bowl 51 Champions hat, not to mention all of my other Pats gear, and look forward to next season.