Sez you, Bay State Boy. Yeah, they cheated. No, football teams, pro or college, can't do their own taping, and use it to steal signs. Yes, that rule is well known, and if guy who was caught doing it again had been, say the coach of the Lions, he probably would have been canned by the league.
Can I prove stealing signs ever helped the Patriots on a single play, much less helped them win Super Bowels? No. But then you can't prove it didn't.
That is why cheating is usually punished a lot more harshly than happened to the Patriots. Maybe the guy caught with a copy of the periodic table taped to his forearm would have aced the chemistry exam without it. We can't tell, so he gets a zero.
Maybe Bilichick would have won as many games, or more without cheating. We can't tell, so gets an * next to his name for all time.
Rules is rules, and as we all know the Patriots paid a price for this nonsensical infraction.
My sense of the reading of this controversy is that the coach of the Patriots so outclasses his peers in the League that any angle to knock the guy off of his perch as one of the best coaches ever will be pursued by fans of contemporary loser teams.
Ha, my Patsies were doormats for decades as teams such as the Oakland Raiders stole games with impunity, and along the way in one instance paralyzed one of the potentially greatest players ever. (Hey Jack Tatum, enjoy your legless view of the world from your wheelchair you worthless POS).
The video taping of signal calling was a tempest in a teapot when it comes to the antics of NFL teams all around.
Fine, take away our Nbr 1 Draft picks every year. The new regime in Foxboro will find a way to outwit the smaller minds all around.
They might even let the other teams win a few from time to time.
The Patriots are the class of the NFL and most rational folks have come to realize that some while back.
Regards.