Two days after the Broncos huge win over the Chargers, and still everyone is talking about the “Refgate” show heard around the world. In case you don’t follow the NFL/Broncos, head ref Ed Hochuli (who should be called “Ed Hurcules”) blew a call on the last drive. Peter King describes it best in his column:
Methodically, Cutler drove Denver downfield. On second-and-one from the Charger 17 with 77 seconds left, Cutler rolled right and the ball popped out of his right hand as he raised it to throw. He definitely was not in the throwing motion. The ball landed on the ground near the Chargers’ 10, and San Diego recovered. But wait. Hochuli had blown his whistle. The play was dead. When a quarterback loses the ball on a play like this, any whistle means the play is over, unlike if it happens to a running back or receiver; those balls can be recovered. Not this one. Denver retained possession. Two plays later, Cutler threw to second-round rookie Eddie Royal for a four-yard touchdown. Immediately, Shanahan held up two fingers.
I respect Peter King and his statement when he says in the same column “The Chargers were robbed”. The refs did blow the call. At the same time, the Refs weren’t the ones couldn’t stop Cutler from throwing the touchdown pass two plays later, and the Refs weren’t the ones that gave Eddie Royal the two point conversion as well.
Either way, I’ll take 2-0 and the Broncos Offense machine running on all cylinders. The defense. well I hope they can step it up with the Saints come to town this weekend. The Chargers have great weapons, and they were able to hold those weapons down in the first half. However, blowing it in the second half has become all-too common for the Broncos defense. Something tells me that this next Sunday will be another shoot-out.