Scapegoat found? Patriots cut Chris Harper after muffed punt in loss

For all the weird overreaction to the officiating in the Denver Broncos' win over the New England Patriots on Sunday night, it's clear that the biggest blow was probably a muffed punt in the fourth quarter by the Patriots.

That play might have cost the Patriots a perfect season, and it cost punt returner Chris Harper his job.

The Patriots cut Harper on Monday, according to Tom Curran of CSSNE. That's cold.

The Broncos were trailing 21-7 and punting it away again when Harper muffed a punt. The Broncos recovered, and the momentum of the game shifted dramatically. Denver scored off that recovery, the first of their 23 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Broncos won, dropping the Patriots to 10-1. Harper, a rookie, was filling in at punt returner because Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola were hurt. The punt returns Sunday were the first of his NFL career. Harper is likely to return to the practice squad, ESPN.com's Mike Reiss said.

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Dumping Harper right away on Monday seemed blame him for the first meaningful loss for New England in almost a full calendar year. The Patriots lost at Green Bay on Nov. 30 last year, then a Week 17 loss to Buffalo when they rested starters, then the next loss was Sunday night.

Maybe it's all coincidence, and with Amendola close to returning and resuming his punt return duties Harper was no longer needed. But it surely seemed like a reaction to what happened on Sunday night. Belichick couldn't cut the officials, after all.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab