It's one thing to hate the New England Patriots. (Join the very large club.) It's another to discredit their most impressive win of the season.
But that was Michael Wilbon's agenda Monday on ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption." Wilbon and co-host Tony Kornheiser were discussing the controversial calls in the Patriots' 37-31 overtime win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game when Wilbon dropped this scorcher of a hot take:
"More than one thing can be true. The Patriots are great and they got help. And it's not the first time: They got lots of help (Sunday).
"Did the Patriots earn (Sunday's) win? No, they didn't."
How do you figure, Mike?
The play that ticked Wilbon off the most was an admittedly flimsy "roughing the passer" call on Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones for swiping at Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
"Brady got hit that hard, and that's a penalty? That's an embarrassment," Wilbon said. "The Patriots were gifted a victory, because they scored a touchdown on that possession in an overtime game."
Was this a bad call? Sure. But Wilbon is wildly overstating its importance. This penalty occurred on 2nd down with 7:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. If the penalty doesn't get enforced, it's 3rd down, where the Patriots converted 68 percent of their chances (13 for 19) that night.
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And yes, New England finished the drive with a touchdown to take a 24-21 lead. But Kansas City immediately followed with a go-ahead TD drive of its own, and the teams tied or changed leads two more times before heading to overtime.
So, that missed call was nothing like the egregious missed pass interference call that essentially cost the New Orleans Saints the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams.
... Right?
"This was every bit as embarrassing as the Saints' win because (the Patriots) didn't earn it," Wilbon added. "You're letting a great team off the hook. They didn't earn anything."
Yikes.
We don't need to explain further why Wilbon is off-base here. But judging by his Twitter timeline during Sunday's game, we shouldn't be surprised by these wild takes.
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