The Browns held Tom Brady and the Patriots in check for most of Sunday’s game, but Brady was able to cash in on a couple of opportunities late in the game to lift the team to a 27-26 victory.
One of those opportunities came about because of a pass interference call in the end zone with less than a minute to play. Browns defensive back Leon McFadden was flagged for interfering with Patriots wide receiver Josh Boyce, a call that didn’t have a lot of evidence to support it when watching on several replays after the fact. Browns coach Rob Chudzinski said he was “sick about the outcome of the game” and made it clear he disagreed with the officials on that play.
“I did not. I felt like those two were both jostling for the ball and obviously, the penalty was called,” Chudzinski said in his postgame press conference. “So, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what I think.”
There was plenty of other disagreement with that call in the Browns locker room and there was also displeasure with a call on cornerback Jordan Poyer for hitting a defenseless receiver just before the fateful flag on McFadden. As Chudzinski said, though, it doesn’t much matter what the Browns think since there’s no way to take those final 13 Patriots points off the board.