Written by Sam Ekstrom
Armchair referees were undoubtedly angered by the unnecessary roughness call against Captain Munnerlyn on the final play of the third quarter Sunday that tangibly shifted the game’s momentum.
On 3rd and 14, Saints quarterback Drew Brees dropped to throw and faced heavy blitz from his left. Captain Munnerlyn and Robert Blanton sped around tight end Jimmy Graham, who offered no resistance to Blanton and left running back Pierre Thomas out to dry, forcing Thomas to choose between Blanton and Munnerlyn in a split second. Thomas feebly slowed Blanton as Munnerlyn ran in uncontested, grabbed Brees and body slammed him to the ground with Blanton’s assistance.
That’s when things got chippy. Brees shoved Blanton while both were still on the ground, then shoved him again when they stood up – albeit meekly. Brees gestured animatedly while head referee Walt Coleman – who had just thrown a flag on Munnerlyn – intervened to break up any potential scuffle.
Munnerlyn was called for a 15-yard personal foul penalty for, as Coleman described it, “driving the quarterback into the ground.” The Saints got an automatic first down and scored a game-icing touchdown seven plays later.
“It was a bad call,” said Munnerlyn on Monday. “The referee, he never blew the whistle. My coaches and I just watched it again, and he never blew the whistle until I already had him.”
Watching the video again, you can hear that the whistle come after Munnerlyn had begun his tackling motion. At that point, it would’ve been nearly impossible for the cornerback to stop.
FOX color analyst Ronde Barber, a 16-year NFL veteran who played the same position as Munnerlyn, gave his impressions of the call immediately following the initial replays.
“It’s tough for me to agree with this call, Chris,” Barber told play-by-play man Chris Myers, “but you can’t do that to quarterbacks. We all know that. They are the most protected player now in the history of football.”
Munnerlyn said on Monday he felt the flag would not have been thrown had the quarterback been somebody other than Brees, a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion.
“[Brees] and Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, they’re like the face of the NFL,” said Munnerlyn, “but it happened. They called the flag, and I feel like it changed the game for my team.”
Munnerlyn defended his actions further by claiming that Brees has a tendency to get rid of footballs while defenders were in the process of wrapping him up. Munnerlyn wanted to finish the job.
“I’ve seen that a couple times on film. I’ve been playing this guy going on six years,” said the former Carolina Panther. “You’ve got a guy wrapped up, and he’s still going to throw the ball or try to find an open guy, so it’s tough to make that decision. Like I said, I watched it again on film, and I don’t think it was a great call at all.”
On the other side of the coin, there are several opponents of Munnerlyn’s staunch claim that his sack was legal. The first, and most obvious party, would be Brees, who after the game referred to Munnerlyn’s hit as a "straight Hulk Hogan 1985 WrestleMania suplex.” A common opinion amongst fans after the play was that Brees’ reaction led to the flag, but the video shows clearly that Coleman reacted immediately to the Munnerlyn takedown; not Brees’ retaliatory shove.
Head coach Mike Zimmer admitted after the game as well that he believed the hit to be a penalty, though he intended to clarify with the league.
FOX rules analyst and former NFL referee Mike Pereira, who tweets about controversial rulings during games, had this to say: “You can’t just throw the QB to the ground like [Munnerlyn] just did in New Orleans.”
Munnerlyn, who said he would appeal any discipline by the league, felt strongly that Brees’ reaction merited a second flag.
“They can’t allow quarterbacks to just get up and get in peoples’ face without throwing a flag on them either, so it at least should have been offset – a penalty on them, too,” Munnerlyn said.
Pereira addressed that as well: “Not enough for a retaliation penalty on Brees,” he tweeted.
The borderline call on Munnerlyn was a considerable turning point in the game, but in the end, it doesn’t excuse the Vikings for allowing the Saints to convert two 3rd and 7 opportunities during the remainder of the drive.
While Munnerlyn may be his toughest critic, his teammates understand the reality that a game isn’t decided on a single down, even one as crucial as the play in question.
“I told my teammates, ‘I feel like I let ya’ll down,’ said Munnerlyn. “I got called for unnecessary roughness, and it changed the whole game in my eyes. And they said, ‘No, there’s a lot of plays in the game.’ But me, I don’t like letting people down. I feel like I let my teammates down, and they’ve been telling me, ‘Man, just let it go.’ So I’ve been trying to let it go and move on.”
| Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket. He has previously served as a play-by-play broadcaster in Iowa and South Dakota and has covered Minnesota sports since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights |