12thMan
10-29-2007, 12:27 PM
I don't think anyone (at least not me) is arguing that we were outcoached and outplayed. They beat us in every last aspect of the game, no doubt about it. And it doesn't excuse our play either - we played like crap and we got beat soundly for it.
It think what people are complaining about is the play calling on the part of the Patriot's offense late in the game. I wouldn't expect the players to take it easy or just kneel down on every possession in the 4th quarter or anything like that. The playcalling from Belichick, however, was extremely aggressive , throwing it deep even when we were down 40+ points to 0.
I think his playcalling was obviously designed to keep racking up points as long as there was time on the clock. When the point differential gets to a certain level it's not about ensuring a win or going for the kill, it's about humiliating an opponent, which is exactly what Belichick was doing.
When the score is 40+ to nothing, throwing the ball deep to get a few more TDs has nothing to do with winning and everything to do with piling on the humiliation and stroking your own ego.
The players can't and shouldn't play less, but they're only going to run what the coach calls, which in Belichicks case is pass, pass, pass, run, run, pass, pass.
Fact of the matter is there is something of an informal agreement or etiquette in football that has lasted decades and he's breaking it, week in and week out. If you DO get up on an opponent by a ridiculous amount, have some class and play a touch more conservative and run the clock out. It's been understood and accepted for years, and Belichick is on a rampage of essentially mocking the entire system and tradition of class that has gone before him.
Tony Dungy's team is undefeated and they've been consistent contenders at the highest level, yet you don't find him or his people embroiled in this much scandal and hatred as you do Belichick and his gang.
As long as he's got the team to keep pounding people like this then there's nothing anyone can do. His legacy in the NFL, however, will most likely be one of victories tarnished buy cheating scandals, a dishonest personal and professional life, and generally being resented by pretty much everyone (except irish and skinsfan).
Okay let's be brutally honest for a minute, part of the issue, and correct me if wrong, is that we have a problem with Belichick as an individual and the perception we have him.
Secondly, if this were to happen at the amateur level, then I would lean on the side of calling character and class into question. But this is professional sports. Why is that important to consider here? Because we invest so much of our time and money looking for the best and the brightest. Drilling it into our kids from the time they can run and compete, "win at all costs" Give one hundred percent...leave it on the field. Well, the Pats have a higher standard for those cliches.
You see in the end, we want it both ways. We love to hear at the end of the big games, "no one deserved it more than so and so". But see, that's not the real world. Sometimes classy people win, and I'm okay with that. And sometimes assholes win and win big, and I'm okay with that too. To me "running up the score" isn't the big deal. As long as he wasn't intentionally cheating or trying to injure someone, then I'm okay with that. His eleven guys pushed our eleven guys back for 60 minutes. What's the problem?
It think what people are complaining about is the play calling on the part of the Patriot's offense late in the game. I wouldn't expect the players to take it easy or just kneel down on every possession in the 4th quarter or anything like that. The playcalling from Belichick, however, was extremely aggressive , throwing it deep even when we were down 40+ points to 0.
I think his playcalling was obviously designed to keep racking up points as long as there was time on the clock. When the point differential gets to a certain level it's not about ensuring a win or going for the kill, it's about humiliating an opponent, which is exactly what Belichick was doing.
When the score is 40+ to nothing, throwing the ball deep to get a few more TDs has nothing to do with winning and everything to do with piling on the humiliation and stroking your own ego.
The players can't and shouldn't play less, but they're only going to run what the coach calls, which in Belichicks case is pass, pass, pass, run, run, pass, pass.
Fact of the matter is there is something of an informal agreement or etiquette in football that has lasted decades and he's breaking it, week in and week out. If you DO get up on an opponent by a ridiculous amount, have some class and play a touch more conservative and run the clock out. It's been understood and accepted for years, and Belichick is on a rampage of essentially mocking the entire system and tradition of class that has gone before him.
Tony Dungy's team is undefeated and they've been consistent contenders at the highest level, yet you don't find him or his people embroiled in this much scandal and hatred as you do Belichick and his gang.
As long as he's got the team to keep pounding people like this then there's nothing anyone can do. His legacy in the NFL, however, will most likely be one of victories tarnished buy cheating scandals, a dishonest personal and professional life, and generally being resented by pretty much everyone (except irish and skinsfan).
Okay let's be brutally honest for a minute, part of the issue, and correct me if wrong, is that we have a problem with Belichick as an individual and the perception we have him.
Secondly, if this were to happen at the amateur level, then I would lean on the side of calling character and class into question. But this is professional sports. Why is that important to consider here? Because we invest so much of our time and money looking for the best and the brightest. Drilling it into our kids from the time they can run and compete, "win at all costs" Give one hundred percent...leave it on the field. Well, the Pats have a higher standard for those cliches.
You see in the end, we want it both ways. We love to hear at the end of the big games, "no one deserved it more than so and so". But see, that's not the real world. Sometimes classy people win, and I'm okay with that. And sometimes assholes win and win big, and I'm okay with that too. To me "running up the score" isn't the big deal. As long as he wasn't intentionally cheating or trying to injure someone, then I'm okay with that. His eleven guys pushed our eleven guys back for 60 minutes. What's the problem?