It is a rule. I'm not sure what the standard practice is about calling the timeout and sorting things out later. I would assume the line judge is staring down the line of scrimmage and if he hears someone screaming timeout and running down the sidelines at him and motioning for a timeout...he's not going to let the play go and verify if it was a valid timeout later. (Could you imagine the uproar if he did that and the Pats scored on that play and the Ravens cried bloody murder because they were calling for a timeout from the sidelines but the evil refs let the play go anyway?)
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As for the fourth downs...
The ravens called time out
The pats false started
Brady runs for a 12 yard gain.
It's not like the refs kept making up reasons to allow the Pats to get another chance.
That being said, the Ravens implosion was in slow motion and you could see the Patriots winning from a mile away. It was inevitable. You just saw it coming after the interception on the drive that would've ended it for all intents and purposes.
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"And that's how you play aces."
Yeah, you make kings run in to them.
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