The Jacksonville Jaguars had Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on the ropes in the fourth quarter of the Afc Championship Game yesterday. The Jaguars led 20-10. The desperation showed for Tom Brady and New England when they attempted a trick play that involved a Brady pass to Danny Amendola, who then threw a pass to Dion Lewis.

The play appeared to work until Myles Jack stripped the football from Lewis. Jack, who was not touched by a New England player when he gained possession of the ball, started to run it back for a touchdown. However, the referees blew the whistle and said that Jack was down.

A review of the play confirmed the call on the field. Another controversial call that favored the Patriots and could have given Jacksonville a 27-10 lead is just another reason Conspiracy theories about Tom Brady and the Patriots never die.

A.J. Bouye is hot over penalties

Jacksonville was flagged for six penalties for almost 100 yards. On the contrary, the Patriots only had one call go against them during a kick return. According to Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye, as stated on ESPN.com, some penalties against New England were never called. This included Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore not getting flagged for pass interference against Dede Westbrook on a crucial fourth down play.

Gilmore has been known as an aggressive player, who racked up plenty of personal foul and unnecessary roughness penalties during his time with the Buffalo Bills.

Bouye got called for a questionable pass interference penalty that helped New England get a score. Bouye also stated that Danny Amendola head-butted Tashaun Gibson, in plain sight of the referees, but did not get a flag. The defensive calls against the Jaguars are suspect, especially since Jacksonville’s defense was the least penalized team in the NFL this past season.

Controversial calls that favor Patriots are nothing new

All throughout the 2017 season, calls that favored New England changed the course of games. Reversed touchdowns for opposing teams proved the norm and happened when the G.O.A.T. has gotten himself into a slump. During a Jets’ game in October where Brady ended the game with a 52.6 completion percentage, a touchdown caught by Austin Sefarian-Jenkins was reversed.

This would have put the Jets within 3 points of the Patriots. However, the call was ruled a fumble and New England won.

In December, the month where Tom Brady threw for 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, as stated by Pro Football .com, the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the receiving end of another bad call. Jesse James’ touchdown catch, which would have won the game for Pittsburgh, was reversed, due to a suspect review that claimed James’ outstretched hand over the goal line was an incomplete catch. This not only gave the Patriots the win but helped them to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Brady was not having a good game against the Steelers and had missed some wide-open receivers.

The worst and most baffling of reversed touchdown calls that favored the Patriots came against the Buffalo Bills in the final two seconds of the first half in Week 15. Kelvin Benjamin caught a touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor that would have helped Buffalo gain the lead over the Patriots. Benjamin had both feet in bounds and had clear ball control. Somehow, the call was overturned on the play’s review, and Buffalo settled for a field goal. Since Buffalo has already intercepted Brady for a pick-six in the second quarter, the reversed touchdown could not come at a better time for Brady. The reversed touchdowns and calls that favor the Patriots seem to occur when Brady needs the most help or is having a bad game.

A history of cheating follows New England

Combine the bad calls of 2017 that help the Patriots with Deflategate, Spygate, malfunctioning headsets of visitors of Gillette Stadium, fake injury reports, and recorded locker room conversations, it is easy to see why conspiracy theories about Tom Brady and the Patriots never die. It is hard to forget the past when new events keep occurring. The only people who seem to be able to overlook the Patriots’ indiscretions are the team’s fans.

The Patriots face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52 next month. Some conspiracy theorists are already handing the trophy to Brady. Good luck, Eagles.
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