Watch CBS News

Flynn On Toucher & Rich: 'Pretty Obvious' It Was Pass Interference

BOSTON (CBS) - Toucher and Rich were joined by former player and 98.5 The Sports Hub football analyst Mike Flynn to discuss yesterday's controversial ending to Monday Night Football.

Trailing 24-20 with four seconds left, the Patriots had one final chance to beat the Panthers. Quarterback Tom Brady keyed in on tight end Rob Gronkowski and his throw was picked off in the end zone.

But wait, there was a flag.

Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly was bear-hugging Gronkowski in the end zone, and a hold or pass interference call appeared to be coming. But head referee Clete Blakeman and his crew huddled up and waved off the flag, saying Brady's pass was uncatchable by Gronkowski.

READ: Referee Clete Blakeman On No-Call: 'I Believe We Got It Right'

Mike Flynn played in the league 11 years, and he's never seen anything like that before.

"I've been in games where they've called PI [pass interference] and eventually pick up the flag because it's uncatchable, but that's usually when the ball is thrown high or way out of bounds," said Flynn.

"Would it have been a great catch? Maybe...but it's Gronkowski. It was a pass interference, it was pretty obvious."

Obviously the referees don't have the benefit of instant replay in real-time on the field, but if they did the video would have showed a different story according to Mike Flynn.

"If you watch the play Gronkowski is turning his head. He would have stopped and turned around to get the ball well before the interception. It was a bad call, they should've called it."

"With that said, they still would have had to score. That doesn't win them the game. But it should have been a PI, it was the right call to make. They threw the flag and they shouldn't have picked it up."

Listen below to hear Flynn's analysis of why it should have been pass interference and not a hold, plus an evaluation of Aqib Talib's performance, some play-calling second guesses and looking ahead to the Denver game:

Flynn: 'Pretty Obvious' It Was Pass Interference

MORE FROM TOUCHER AND RICH

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.