The Patriots weren’t among the teams victimized by poor officiating during conference championship weekend, but that didn’t stop them from cracking a joke at the referees’ expense on Monday night.
New England’s social media team sent out a tweet in which it drew inspiration from last Saturday’s viral moment involving Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Peverley. In case you missed it, Beverley earned a technical foul after grabbing a photographer’s camera and showing it to an official who missed Jayson Tatum’s obvious last-second foul on LeBron James. The controversial play allowed the Boston Celtics to force overtime against the Lakers, whom they eventually beat in dramatic fashion.
In the Patriots’ tweet, the camera in Beverley’s hands shows a photo of tight end Hunter Henry’s controversial non-touchdown catch in the Week 12 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Henry’s overturned touchdown helped prevent New England from capturing what would’ve been the biggest win of its season.
Take a look:
Some might view this as sour grapes from the Patriots, as a win over the Vikings in theory would’ve helped New England eventually clinch a postseason berth. Of course, the Patriots wound up missing the playoffs due to a variety of self-inflicted issues.
Ultimately, though, the tweet is just an example of some good, harmless fun.
