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That only happened as part of Goodell's sanctimonious concern over player safety so he could use it as ammo during the inevitable lawsuit.
Trying too hard, tbh...Peyton mannichoke
That only happened as part of Goodell's sanctimonious concern over player safety so he could use it as ammo during the inevitable lawsuit.
I'm sure that's what Pats fans think. Just like they think Spygate had nothing to do with their last three Superbowl wins and that Brady really does deserve every call he gets. But that's incidental. I'm not questioning the actual truth of all those claims, because we're talking about perceptions here. What's true is that most people don't agree with those assessments. So it's easy for people to root against them. Even if some of those things are because of other teams, it doesn't matter, because the Patriots benefit most from it. (You don't see Peyton raising his arms every time he gets hit like Brady used to.)
I, myself, do think the Patriots get an disproportional amount of good fortune, but I don't think that there's anything corrupt going on. I'll never forgive them (or Rex Ryan especially) for their win against Baltimore in 2007, but Atlanta has replaced them as the team I detest the most. I think Brady deserves his props, but I find it appropriate that Lewis has to go through him if he wants to retire a champion.
Harlem droppin' truth bombs, tbh.
but he screams a lot and says that doesn't make any sense, but he does it in the name of the Lord, tbh
To me, Spygate was so much worse than Bountygate. You caught a coach essentially cheating, and all you do is take away what was pretty much a second-rounder and give them a fine? Belichek (and Mangini and everyone else who knew about it) should've been suspended.
The Pats missed out on the chance to draft Kenny Phillips; the Saints had their season ruined.
No, it's not what we think, it's what actually happened. Bill Polian campaigned for rule changes because he was sick and tired of seeing Marvin Harrison get destroyed by physical coverage from Ty Law.
Also, the fact you're butthurt about their win over Baltimore in a year Baltimore would have missed the playoffs either way is pretty funny.
It's not that the Pats won; it's how they won: those crappy officials that let Ryan call a timeout, even though he wasn't allowed to do so. It was like playing Madden with someone and reaching over to their controller and pressing the timeout button when they're trying to run out the clock.
I'll say this though: That was the loss that changed that series into the rivalry (if you can call it that) it is today. Suggs threw a tantrum over the PI call that gave the Pats a chance at the winning score. At the time it seemed childish (and it was), but Suggs has really upped his game since that day. That 2010 playoff game showed that. That game, along with Harbaugh and Flacco, is the driving force behind the recent playoff runs.
And I don't mean the coverage rules, as it seems like the league has adjusted to that all right and defenders are able to be aggressive again. I mean roughing calls and stuff like that. You can't say that the expansion of the roughing calls to hits below the knees isn't the result of Brady's injury. (Speaking of which, is that still a rule? I could've sworn I've seen QBs get hit below the knees several time this season.)
Essentially cheating
Even though if he had paid someone to videotape from the stands, it would've been perfectly legal.
Meanwhile the Bountygate scandal turns out to have alot of the same inconclusive evidence, hearsay, and blatant lies, but this time around everybody defends the Saints.
No SB wins since Spygate! Clearly they cheated, now they play fair and can't win a le! The fact that they were one fluke catch from a le, and one fluke drop from another one, is irrelevant! Welker only catches that pass if the Patriots are taping signals!!!!!!
LnGrrrR and monosylab1k I don't want to come off as antagonistic to Pats fans. I don't think they cheated. But that perception is out there, and that's why so many people root against them. There are things that Belichick does that turn people off. The way Brady calls for flags turns people off. These are football things; they're not decade-old rumors that get recycled as truth baselessly. It's obvious why Brady is not a celebrated as Lewis when you're not looking at Wikipedia to remember things that happened forever ago.
And a dropped pass and missed kick from not even being in the Superbowl.
And a dropped pass and missed kick from not even being in the Superbowl.
Thanks for proving our point.
Wrong, Matt Walsh sent tapes from eight games from 2000-2002 to the league office....
IIRC, that was more of a fabrication than a complete lie.... it eventually came out that he had set up all the equipment to tape the walkthrough, but the camera's battery ran out before he could record anything....There was never any conclusive evidence they cheated in any other games, and of course the Rams walkthrough video turned out to be a complete lie by Matt Walsh.
Matt Walsh's credibility is already destroyed, anything he claimed is utter bull .
And having tapes means nothing. It wasn't illegal to possess tapes. It was illegal to put someone on the sidelines in games taping signals. As I already said, there is only evidence the Patriots cheated in one game, the 2007 season opener against the Jets. Everything else is inconclusive and unconfirmed by anyone.
Funny how everyone was up in arms over Vilma being suspended over inconclusive and fabricated evidence, but are quick to use that same sort of inconclusive evidence to condemn the Patriots in games other than the only one they were actually caught cheating in.
Yeah its a well known fact that spying injures players
It's not worse in a complete sense. Bountygate was illegal in the real world (and it's certainly a lot more vile) but it was a gray area in football. That's why it was hard for Goodell to punish players for what happened.
Spygate is only about the game, and so a proper punishment should have been a lot easier to ins ute. Even though Pats fans point out that there wasn't really concrete evidence that the Patriots cheated consistently or that the filming even made a difference in games, it's pretty standard stuff that those who break the rules aren't allowed to play.
It's like looking over someone's shoulder while testing and only having to play 20 bucks if you get caught. Sure, the answers may not have helped you, and you may have only done it once, but in real world you'd get an F on that test. That's why I though suspensions were obviously warranted in Spygate. I thought expulsions were warranted in Bountygate for the coaches and that the players should have really been blacklisted by their peers, provided in both cases that the league went through due process and showed substantial evidence, which was not really in case in either situation.
I didn't think much of Spygate.
So back to the game...
IMO, Talib should be covering Boldin as he should be able to do it without help. McCourty should be helping over the top on Torrey Smith since no one in the secondary is capable of keeping up with him without help. The defense has gotten a lot better since the game against Baltimore this year and we should see it.
On offense, hopefully they're able to run the ball better against Baltimore than last time. Danny Woodhead getting injured early against Houston was huge since it made sure McDaniels wouldn't be wasting any downs on Woodhead draw plays and also it led to additional snaps for Vereen, and you'd like to think McDaniels learned his lesson not to give Woodhead 15 carries this time.
If Brady plays well, New England wins. If he plays like he did in the last AFCCG, Baltimore wins. It's that simple. Baltimore isn't gonna give another bad Brady performance away, but Brady probably won't have another AFCCG where he's attempting deep balls to Matthew Slater.
I say New England 31 Baltimore 24.
If Brady is sharp, I don't see why this game can't go much the same as last week's game vs. Houston. Texans have a better defense than Baltimore, and a better running game. Flacco has proven himself more than Schaub, but over the course of the season he wasn't any better. Baltimore won't just bend over and take an asspounding the way the Texans eventually folded, but the game should never really be in doubt if NE plays their A game. Then again, it's the NFL and flukey happens. If everything goes the way it should (which it probably won't) then Pats 34 Ravens 21.
First off, the vast majority of broken rules in the NFL results in fines, not suspensions. Very rarely is a suspension the standard punishment. Think of how many times James Harrison had to brazenly and openly headhunt guys before he finally got suspended instead of just fined. Second, who the are you suspending? If you suspend Belichick I kinda get it, although again, according to standard practice in the NFL, a record breaking fine and loss of a 1st round pick is still a pretty steep penalty for being caught cheating in one game. If you wanted to suspend him for a game then I'm fine with that, have them vacate that week 1 win and make them forever be 17-2 then great, but don't act like the punishment they got for confirmed cheating in ONE game was some slap on the wrist.
Boldin is incredibly inconsistent, but if he's playing well (which is usually the case is big games), Talib's going to struggle. I used to watch him when he was with Tampa (the Bucs are #2 for me), and he wasn't very good a shutting down slot receivers. It's going to be interesting to see how physical the officials let the game be. Talib was at his best with the Bucs when he could be aggressive playing the ball due to having safety help. I haven't seen him since he was traded, so maybe he's better at that stuff now.
I think the Ravens will run a lot of 3/1/1 or 3/2/0 (I mean WR/RB/TE just in case I have that standard order messed up) in order to get Jones in the game. It would be interesting to see how the Patriots deal with two 9-routes at the same time. Is Arrington still the nickel? If so, it'll be interesting to see him on Boldin, Jones and/or Pitta/ son. The linebackers will be spotlighted as well.
To me, the matchup of the game as far as the Ravens' offense goes is going to be Osemele and Birk vs Wilfork. Last time these teams played, Ramon Harewood was the starting left guard. He wasn't horrible, but he and Birk weren't really strong enough to stop Wilfork. With a stronger Osemele there, I imagine the Ravens are going to try to run up the middle more than Houston did. If they succeed in getting Leach to the second level (and thus Rice getting good gains up the gut), I don't see how the Patriots can counter.
The interior pass coverage is going to be really important for the Ravens' defense. Stopping Welker, Vareen and Hernandez will be critical to giving Suggs and Kruger enough time to get to Brady. How Lewis does will be critical. Also interesting will be Graham vs Welker. Ellerbe is playing his best ball, too, and him on Vareen will be big.
I honestly think the Ravens will win this game. Their defense is playing better now than they have all year. Suggs looks poised to have a big game, and Kruger is finally able to capitalize on one-on-one matchups. The Ravens' offense is really clicking right now, and I think Flacco will make the plays he needs to again. We'll see if it's close, but I think that whoever wins will show themselves to be superior early. I don't think it will be a game of swings like the Denver games were. I'll say Ravens 28, New England 20.
I'm going to try to create a ledger of additions and subtractions for the Ravens since they played the Patriots. If a Pats fan wants to make one for their team, we might be able to get a better idea of what's changed:
Improved:
Pass Protection
Offensive Play-Calling
Return Game
Pass Rush
Run Defense
Weakened:
Tight-End Play ( son has fallen off, but is trying to come back)
Apparently Kick Coverage
Cornerback Play (although not by much)
Lineback Depth
Interior Line Play (It's better now than it's been recently, but Ngata is less healthy than he was in Week 3)
Illegal hits aren't cheating in the same sense as filming practices, especially when the hits weren't illegal just a few years ago. I'm not saying Harrison isn't a piece of crap for saying that he didn't care that he was hurting people, but rather that all of that is still with in the context of the game. There's standard policy for on-the-field infractions. I actually think adding fines to it hurts the game. But whatever; they're able to afford it.
And yes, I think the Belichick, whoever filmed it, and all the coaches that used the tape should've been suspended. To me, it's the same thing as a player taking PEDs; it gives him an unfair advantage. The normal punishment for PED use is a warning, and then suspensions. I don't think a coach should get a warning, though. I think losing a first-rounder didn't really fit the "crime." The GM wasn't the one breaking the rules. I think losing picks should be reserved for things like major cap infractions or tampering.
Last edited by Chinook; 01-16-2013 at 01:51 PM.
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