Posted on 12/29/2007 8:45:22 PM PST by Reaganesque
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - With one mighty heave, Tom Brady and Randy Moss took care of the record books. Now it's down to business for the unbeaten New England Patriots: stamping themselves as the greatest team in NFL history.
The Patriots completed a perfect if somewhat joyless journey through the regular season Saturday night, finishing with a remarkable 16-0 record following a thrilling 38-35 comeback victory over the New York Giants.
New England became the first NFL team since the 1972 Dolphins to win every game on the schedule, and that one was only 14-0. This victory required a comeback from a 12-point deficit engineered by the brilliant Brady, and smashed the Patriots' league mark for consecutive victories.
Validation of their inexorable march through the season can only come by adding a Super Bowl championship, their fourth of the decade. Do that and there'll be no challenge to their spot at the top.
I think what you meant to say was "couldn't care less."
Anyway, I'm glad the Pats were caught "cheating" in the first game of the season. Because it obviously turned out that they are even a better team when they aren't "cheating."
I think what really angers a lot of people about "Spygate" is that the Patriots actually got better after being forced to stop spying on the other teams. It kind of puts the lie to their contention that the spying gave them an unfair advantage. If anything, the spying was holding them back. Maybe the spying caused them to over analyze the other teams and cost them some victories. Because now that they don't do it anymore, they are perfect.
I think it’s the * that makes you keep replying.
“For it to be a TRULY perfect season, Belichick would get torn to shreds by a tiger escaped from the San Francisco Zoo.”
I’m ashamed to say I agree with you.
I bemoan the fact that Vlad Putin is prospering too.
The Lord moves in mysterious ways.
What is the play that is always shown on Super Bowl VII highlights?
Even a "perfect" season is never truly perfect.
The Dolphins could have ended the 17-0 season with a 17-0 Super Bowl score. After 35 years, I'm still fuming about it.
" . . . If anything, the spying was holding them back. Maybe the spying caused them to over analyze the other teams and cost them some victories."
You deny a basic fact: The Patriots were cheating. For years.
The consequences of the Patriots' fraud are not nullified by their wins after they were caught. The cheating enabled the Patriots to compile an artificially favorable record, and consequently, to attract free agent talent which otherwise would have gone elsewhere. You have a punk like Randy Moss, for example, coming to New England.
This in turn enabled this lowlife organization to claim legitimacy, justlike a corrupt politician who is "elected" through voter fraud. So it is all just a big lie.
ROFL. Dude, you’ve been all over these threads bashing the Patriots. When it’s all said and done, it’s still just a game. No need to have a railroad spike up your rear about it.
That was some game. I thought the Giants had them. Hats off to the Patriots. But I’m a Cowboys fan.
Wow. Yes. That was a great season. I’m sorry about your team this year, but I was relieved that they pulled out of the crash dive in the final stretch. Draft picks oughtta be interesting for you guys.
Dude, how'd you know about the railroad spike?
Jealous lately????? I hate people who complain about EVERYTHING and you might just be the number one on FR.
Twice...after one play...by two different players.
The Pats have good talent. They are a good team. Would they have racked up a record like they have over the last few years without cheating? I doubt it. Like someone else said, it was like the Pats had someone in the opposing teams huddle. Huge advantage. Call it sour grapes, but an asterisk will always pop up in a lot of peoples minds whenever the Pats are mentioned. Just like Barry Bonds.
I lived in WI for a few years and know what you mean when it comes to Moss. He was just a plain jerk. So, when he came to New England, I was very wary of him. But, it would seem that being part of this team has changed him for the better so, I’ll cut him some slack. Either way though, you’ve got to admit, he’s very, very good at what he does.
Cheaters.
Definitely an outstanding achievement, and I know they are not satisfied with 16-0. They want to be 19-0. If they do it they will go down as the greatest team in NFL history. Its a great time to be a Boston sports fan. Along with the Patriots three Super Bowl rings and current team exploits you have the Red Sox winning two of the last four World Series, Celtics cruising and bruising the NBA, and the Bruins in contention. |
The asterisk will always be there.
Now Cindy brady can go and celebrate with the child he fathered out of wedlock, after he dumped the mother of his child. What a guy/gal he is.
How did you get to be so self-righteous?
Now if the Pats had finished the season 7-9 or something like that after having been told to stop videotaping on the sidelines, you same people would have pointed to that as "proof" that the Pats had an unfair advantage up until the time that they were caught. But the Pats going 16-0 takes that argument away and puts the lie to the unfair advantage argument. If anything, the Pats were being hobbled and held back by all this videotaping.
How so? How could a team actually IMPROVE after being told they couldn't "cheat" anymore? Well I think the answer is obvious. I think all those videotapes causes the Pats coaching staff to over-analyze their opponents. They were more concerned with predicting what their opponents would do to them (by using info gleaned from the tapes) than to simply concentrate on their own game plan.
Being ordered not to videotape like that anymore, the Pats were essentially forced to just go out there and play THEIR game. And to the anger and dismay of many, the Pats actually discovered that they were even BETTER than they thought they were.
In my opinion, the Pats punished themselves by relying on those videotapes. They could have had five Super Bowl victories by now instead of just three. They almost certainly would have beat Indy in that AFC Championship game last year if they just showed up to play their own game instead of worrying what Indy would do to them based on all that data they evidently were obsessed with collecting on them.
In essence, the Pats have been playing with one arm tied behind their backs all this time. Most Pats fans will be secretly and eternally grateful to Coach Mangini for blowing the whistle on Belichick's tactics. Belichick meant well for the team but he was being too cute by half and he paid the price for it. After being caught and told to stop doing that sort of thing, Belichick had no choice but to tell his offense to just play their own game and open things up offensively - the result being a perfect 16-0 season.
This really angers the critics of the Pats who were expecting the Pats to go off the rails this season, exposing them as a fraud. I can understand all the hatred and anger out there because nobody likes being proved wrong.
It's similar to the hatred and anger many people have towards President Bush because despite all the criticism and hatred directed towards him over Iraq, he never shriveled up in the fetal position and gave up. Instead, he simply changed tactics (as Belichick was forced to change tactics) and ended up scoring an unexpected victory over there. Much to the chagrin of his critics, instead of giving up over in Iraq, Bush actually went on the offensive and ramped things up and the result was the total opposite of what his critics were hoping to see (defeat). In the same way, Belichick let his offense run wild and told his QB to just sling the ball out there and use his weapons to maximum advantage. The result is a 16-0 and boy, are the detractors pissed off about that!
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