I'm sitting here watching the Colts-Chiefs playoff game, not really rooting for either team, just happy to be enjoying some post-season NFL football. Kansas City cornerback Ty Law has just intercepted Peyton Manning for the second time, but the Colts don't think he really caught it, so Tony Dungy has thrown the red flag and challenged the call.
NBC showed several replay angles, and the call could easily have gone either way. After referee Jeff Triplette went under the hood (and we had to endure yet another NBC commercial break with a promo for that "Grease" reality show), he returned to the field and announced simply, "After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field stands."
That's it. No explanation, no description of what he saw that led to his decision.
Maybe there was no incontrovertible evidence that Law had bobbled the ball, or that it hit the ground. Whatever it was, tell us! When the ref has taken the time to review the play, the NFL owes both the teams and the viewers more than the absolute minimum of information on why the referee has ruled one way or the other -- particularly in the post-season, when the games mean so much more.