Did the Patriots Cheating make that much of a Difference?

What is unsaid in the article is as important as what is said. And that is that while officials of the other 31 teams seem to agree that the Patriots were spying in various ways, many said that it didn't make that much of a difference. And again, I ask. Then why do it? I think other teams were also pulling some shenanigans and didn't want the whole tarp pulled via a congressional investigation. The other item about the article (among many) that angered me was Belichick, who is a well know student of the game, maybe more so than any other coach both college and pro, claimed ignorance about the exact scope of rules for videotaping other teams. That's complete bull****. I trust Belichick, Goodell, Kraft and Brady about as far as I could throw them. Fully inflated or otherwise.

BTW, great read. Thanks for posting the link.

 

Partly true. We Steeler fans know there is a huge asterisk by everything the Pukes "accomplished" during the B & B era. And our opinion is the only one that matters. Now, fade to black.

 

Thanks. It's an article that I think wraps up so much of what happened and puts it into perspective.

I agree with you. I'm sure other teams try to do things to get an advantage. It's just not even close to the degree that the Patriots did it.

Also, you are correct about this. if we are going to be told by everyone how great Bill Belichick is and how he knows more about the rules and is smarter than everyone else....how can we believe that he didn't know the rules and plead ignorance when caught? People can't have it both ways....,but they try.

As for what affect it had or what difference it made: I think their compiling of information was unleashed particularly in post-season games. They played in a laughably weak division, so they really didn't need a ton of help to win a bunch of games for great playoff positioning. It's like in 2004 when the Steelers dominated them and ended the Patriots regular season winning streak, then the Patriots suddenly baffled the hell out of the Steelers in the playoffs on their way to a Super Bowl. They pick and choose when and how.

Anyway, glad you liked the article.

 

Agree, you don't always need to use the "ace up your sleeve" Just when the pot matters most and you can still play dumb and act surprised when you win like Bill does often.

 

it could have been cheating or we had some dumb coaches - which we did - or a combo of both. Ben was good, at times, very good, but not GREAT.
LeBeau and Tomlin NEVER had an answer for the 50-60 short pass Brady offense

and Tomlin / Cowher settled for conservative FG's year in and year out. and when the chips were down, we could never excel in the 4th Q.