Pats Perfect Season My Heinie
Posted December 29th, 2007 @ 11:25pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Lost in the hype of the Patriots "perfect season" is the simple fact that they're proven cheats.
Perfect season my ass.
P.S. The lowly freakin' Giants nearly took them down, and probably would have if several things had gone differently.
- The refs and some pretty ticky-tack calls, including one on Toomer who just stood on the sidelines after his teammate took a late hit out of bounds.
- It took 3:37 to run five plays? Even after the Patriots took a time-out, Coughlin apparently only sent in one play, leading to 30+ seconds running off the clock before the next play?!?!? Is Eli so dumb he can only remember one thing at a time?
- The Giants built a 12-point lead and then turtled - absolutely turtled - on offense while making the "dumb mistake" of letting Randy Moss get behind you on defense. Don't they know Tom Brady can only hit wide open receivers?
Here's to hoping "cheaters never win" comes true in the playoffs.
Donate Life
Posted 30 Dec 2007 at 1:27pm #
A little bitter maybe? Sure, the whole taping scandal taints their season, but the fact is that the Patriots are good. Really good. I'm no fan of the Patriots; I hate Boston fans with a passion. But this offense plays better than any I've ever seen. I think the comment about Brady was especially uncalled for. The guy has proven himself time and time again. He runs that offense to perfection and wins championships. Rothlisberger has yet to prove he can do either. I understand that they're AFC rivals, but you have to give them credit for putting together a hell of a season.
Posted 30 Dec 2007 at 1:29pm #
Roethlisberger has of course won a championship. My error.
Posted 30 Dec 2007 at 1:53pm #
[quote comment="45102"]He runs that offense to perfection and wins championships.[/quote]
I think even an average quarterback could succeed in the Pats system. Quick slant, LOS screen pass, run that goes nowhere, come-back route, and play-action pass over the top to Moss. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I think even an average quarterback can hit wide-open receivers or throw passes at the line of scrimmage or quick slants.
I think even an average QB could throw the ball over Randy's head in the end zone and let him go up and get it.
I think even an average quarterback can find a third receiver when given six seconds in the pocket to do so.
I think that if you put Tom Brady on this year's Steelers they don't even hit .500. To save you the trouble of twisting those words around, I'll come out and say it: I think Ben Roethlisberger is a better QB than Tom Brady. He's got more mobility, can throw with accuracy while using that mobility, and can fit the ball in to tight spaces. Heck, he's got more perfect passer rating games than Tom despite playing behind an offensive line that's nowhere near as good as Brady's has been. If Ben gets three seconds in the pocket it's a miracle these days.
Take away the ridiculous "tuck" and where would the Patriots be? Take away their cheating - which you know extended back to previous seasons - and where would they be? Would Randy Moss have signed with them if they hadn't won a Super Bowl? Heck, where would Tom Brady's stats be if he and Belichek didn't feel the need to go for a first down inside of field goal range on 4th and 1 with their team up by 28 points late in the game?
Is the current Pats team good? Sure. Perfect? Hellz no - they provably cheated. I don't care if they win the next three games they play - it ain't a perfect season. It'll have an asterisk. Maybe they'll put an asterisk on their Super Bowl Rings.
Posted 30 Dec 2007 at 6:24pm #
This is like Barry Bonds -- like those shirts with 756 and an asterisk next to it. Who cares about the cheating thing? It was just a bit of filming, and while it was a stupid, stupid move on the part of Bill Bellachick, I see no reason to stomp all over the Patriots' season.
16-0 is an impressive milestone. It sounds to me like you're just pissed it isn't the Steelers or whatever that are 16-0...
Posted 30 Dec 2007 at 7:23pm #
[quote comment="45106"]Who cares about the cheating thing?[/quote]
I dunno, people who give a shit about integrity, sportsmanship, and honor? Jeez, who cares about cheating?
I'd launch into a tirade about cheating, but I'm too busy defrauding the government by lying on my income taxes, stealing from your place of employment, and talking with my "doctor" about those phony insurance claims that have allowed me to buy that 72' yacht.
Give me a break.
Posted 31 Dec 2007 at 5:20pm #
By that notion, then everything Shula did for the Dolphins was "cheating" because Robbie and Shula "cheated" when he was hired by the Dolphins. Do you put an asterisk next to everything he did between 1970 and 1995?
I doubt it.
The comments about Moss are silly, considering that the Patriots won three Super Bowls without him.
[quote comment="45107"]I think even an average quarterback could succeed in the Pats system. Quick slant, LOS screen pass, run that goes nowhere, come-back route, and play-action pass over the top to Moss. Lather, rinse, repeat.[/quote]
If everyone knows exactly what the Patriots will do, if it's that simple to predict their strategy, then how did they make 16-0? How did they win 3 Superbowls without Moss? If everyone knows their playbook that well, where's season after season of losing records?
[quote comment="45107"]I think that if you put Tom Brady on this year's Steelers they don't even hit .500. To save you the trouble of twisting those words around, I'll come out and say it: I think Ben Roethlisberger is a better QB than Tom Brady. He's got more mobility, can throw with accuracy while using that mobility, and can fit the ball in to tight spaces. Heck, he's got more perfect passer rating games than Tom despite playing behind an offensive line that's nowhere near as good as Brady's has been. If Ben gets three seconds in the pocket it's a miracle these days.[/quote]
This is where the Patriots being a better team comes into play. Brady gets lots of time, he has great receivers, their running game is at worst, competent, and their defense makes the plays they need to make. Dan Marino was probably a better passer than Brady and Big Ben *combined*, yet who cares? His team was never good enough to win the Super Bowl. If you look at the 72 Dolphins, it wasn't that they were packed to the gills with uber-players. It's that they were a good *team*, and played as one.
[quote comment="45107"]Take away the ridiculous "tuck" and where would the Patriots be? Take away their cheating - which you know extended back to previous seasons - and where would they be? Would Randy Moss have signed with them if they hadn't won a Super Bowl? Heck, where would Tom Brady's stats be if he and Belichek didn't feel the need to go for a first down inside of field goal range on 4th and 1 with their team up by 28 points late in the game?[/quote]
Funny, you didn't seem to care about any of Cowher's better qualities, sportsmanship, etc., when he was dragging your team into the dirt. The only thing you seemed to care about was...their record. The only "crime" the Patriots committed was that they got caught, and then had the gall to go on to a perfect season. That stuff about running up the score is silly, and you know it. *Professional* football teams are *paid* to win. Their focus is winning games to get more money. Period. You want to talk about sportsmanship, then find a league run on charity, with no scoreboard.
[quote comment="45107"]I dunno, people who give a shit about integrity, sportsmanship, and honor? Jeez, who cares about cheating?[/quote]
Okay, so where are your demands for asterisks next to every Super Bowl or record the Steelers had when Mike Webster played. Webster admitted to using anabolic steroids as a player, as did Steve Courson. Note, that's not even including the controversial claims, unproven, by Jim Haslett.
Note that Erik: Players on the Steelers Championship teams admitted to taking Steroids. Puts them in the *exact* same class as Bonds.
Unless you're going to duck behind the fact that it wasn't illegal or against the rules at the time.
Posted 31 Dec 2007 at 5:50pm #
[quote comment="45127"]The comments about Moss are silly, considering that the Patriots won three Super Bowls without him.[/quote]
Again, Moss likely wouldn't have gone to a team that hadn't won any Super Bowls, and who's to say how much the Pats cheating allowed them to win or even reach those Super Bowls? The cheating obviously happened in more than one game, which casts doubt on the entire Belichek era in New England.
[quote comment="45127"]How did they win 3 Superbowls without Moss?[/quote]
Again, the cheating may have helped… You can't reasonably deny that, nor can anyone say how much it helped.
I'm not denying that the Patriots are a good team - just that this season is "perfect." They cheated for a fact.
[quote comment="45127"]If you look at the 72 Dolphins, it wasn't that they were packed to the gills with uber-players. It's that they were a good *team*, and played as one.[/quote]
I've never said the Pats weren't a good team - just that Tom Brady is over-rated as a QB.
[quote comment="45127"]The only "crime" the Patriots committed was that they got caught[/quote]
No, John, their crime was cheating, not getting caught cheating. If you commit a crime, you're a criminal whether you get caught or not.
[quote comment="45127"]Note that Erik: Players on the Steelers Championship teams admitted to taking Steroids. Puts them in the *exact* same class as Bonds. Unless you're going to duck behind the fact that it wasn't illegal or against the rules at the time.[/quote]
I don't need to "duck" behind it. It's not cheating if it's not against the rules. It's not illegal if there's no law against it. Around here we call that kind of stuff "common sense." 😛
Posted 02 Jan 2008 at 12:02pm #
I live in Toronto and am a bills fan supporting them as a true fan should....which is even when they suck....which is alot.
If the pats had been found to cheat on a game with my bills the buffalo area residents would have hunted bellicheck down and crucified him.
They are an awesome team from playeers to coaching but in such a short season with every single game important, how can we say that it is a perfect season and how can the league not take away a win.
If you are proven to have cheated with a specific team, the team cheated on should get an automatic win, not $$$ or picks.
Posted 17 Jan 2008 at 6:49pm #
There will always be an * by this season. The degree to which it helped them is irrelevant, it is the principal. They relied on something other than the talent of the coaches decision making and the athletes ability to play to gain an unfair advantage. They got caught cheating and in the name of integrity, honor, and good sportsmanship they should have to pay. They got fined $$$, (pocket change) and they lost a draft pick (they still have 2nd and 3rd and on a team that good its not much of a setback) Belichick should have been suspended a couple of weeks and they should have had to forfeit the game, the way the NFL handled it was a mockery of those who play the game with integrity. Destroy the tapes and make it go away, we don't any bad publicity. Steroids destroyed baseball, I cannot even watch it anymore. Do Clemens and Bonds various records count if they are proven guilty? Why was there no further investigation? I am not just mad because the Patriots are so good as many Pats fans like to use as defense, they are good; I will give them that. I only want to see a little justice because, since the NFL handled the matter so poorly; the only justice left now is to watch the 1 of the 3 remaining teams knock off the Pats. If you sell your integrity to win, then you have got nothing left. 🙁