Posted on 09/13/2007 10:45:45 PM PDT by Roberts
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Sheldon Brown and the Eagles hoped a blitz would rattle Tom Brady.
One problem: Every time the Eagles rushed Brady in the Super Bowl, the Patriots nullified the defensive attack with screen passes. Lots of them. On almost every play defensive coordinator Jim Johnson called for a blitz, the Patriots used the short pass to confuse the Eagles.
After the Patriots beat the Eagles 24-21 in 2005 to win the Lombardi Trophy, Brown thought the Patriots beat them with nothing but sharp offensive playcalling. Now, he's not so sure.
With spying accusations leveled this week against the Patriots, some of the Eagles left from the NFC title team are wondering if New England used bootleg film to their advantage in the Super Bowl.
"Do I think about it? Mmm hmmm," said Brown, their starting cornerback. "It's crazy. I just don't know how far back it goes. Something's not right about that."
Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins found the accusations troublesome.
"Now there's always going to be questions about the situation," Dawkins said Thursday. "Was it great adjustments at halftime or what?"
Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward said this week that he suspected the Patriots had some type of inside information on the Steelers before at least one of the teams' two AFC championship game matchups since the 2001 season. While Ward said the Patriots knew a lot of Pittsburgh's calls, none of the Eagles could offer any type of solid proof of any shenanigans.
"For me to think back two years ago about something they may or may not have done, it's not worth my time," running back Brian Westbrook said.
New England beat the New York Jets in last Sunday's season opener in which an on-field video camera focusing on Jets coaches was confiscated from a Patriots employee.
On Thursday, New England coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000 for spying on an opponent's defensive signals. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also ordered the team to give up next year's first-round draft choice if it reaches the playoffs and second- and third-round picks if it doesn't.
"I would like to think it's just one team doing it, but it doesn't shock me that it happened," Dawkins said.
Some Eagles said occasional signal-stealing is an accepted part of the game. But they believe what the Patriots are accused of doing crosses the football morality line because it threatens the integrity of the game.
"It's different if you're talking about recording it," Dawkins said. "What can you do if you try to signal a play in?"
Eagles coach Andy Reid steered away from questions about the alleged cheating other than to say he has no doubts New England's victory was legitimate.
"That's something Bill and the Patriots are working through," Reid said.
Brown said he noticed a difference in New England's playcalling in the second quarter. After the Patriots gained only 45 yards in the first quarter, they had 286 over the next three.
Brady hit running back Corey Dillon and gained 29 total yards on a pair of screens to open New England's first full drive of the second quarter. They didn't score on that drive, but did on four of the next five drives.
The Patriots went to the screen pass again on the decisive drive early in the fourth quarter, this time with Brady connecting with Kevin Faulk on two passes for 27 yards.
"I was like, 'Man, I never saw that many screens," Brown said.
Brown wonders if it was normal playcalling from a team good enough to win three Super Bowls in four seasons, a Patriots team that used a strong scouting report to gain a fair edge, or was somebody picking up the Eagles defensive calls from a sideline camera that deprived them of a fair shot?
"I think they should forfeit, man," said punt returner Reno Mahe, smiling. "We won the Super Bowl. I think we should get it. I'm going to go trade my NFC championship ring for a Super Bowl ring."
The headline over a picture of Belichick on the back page of Thursday's Philadelphia Daily News might have said it all: "Counterfeit RING: Spy Scandal Helps Explain Birds' Super Bowl Loss."
Hey, maybe the illicit tape would show once and for all if Donovan McNabb really did get sick in the huddle late in the game. Remember, that was Philadelphia's first excuse for losing.
McNabb -- who insisted the Eagles would never stoop to those kind of tactics -- was surprised to hear the allegations against the Patriots. But he said the suspicions might be overblown.
"One thing people are forgetting is that even if you have the answers to the test, you still have to take the test," he said. "If they have an idea of what's coming, those guys still have to be able to execute the play."
That doesn't mean McNabb won't clear some space in his jewelry box. For a city that last saw a pro team win a championship nearly 25 years ago, the Eagles might accept a retroactive one.
"Maybe we'll get our ring back," said a chuckling McNabb. "Maybe we'll get the real one."
I have to wonder if they have found the key to the New England Patriots’ success in the last several years. If they start to lose more now, I think the answer is yes.
It would be a huge advantage. If you know the blitz is coming, you audible one play. If you know it's not, you audible another. New England has always had solid players. But I always thought they performed one or two notches above their skill level. This might explain why. It might also explain why NE has a lot of trouble with certain teams--especially Denver. Denver is consistently decent but not as good as NE. But Denver owns NE. It may be that Denver changes it's defensive signals every quarter or some such scheme to thwart the signal stealing. Just speculating.
The easy solution to this is to allow the MLB to have a radio in his helmet and to get the defensive plays by radio (encrypted, of course :)
Thanks for that explanation. Very helpful.
At the beginning of the season, talk was about how all the teams that play against Indy would be gunning for the Super Bowl champs, to take them on and try to beat the best from last year............
Now the focus will be less on Indy and more on New England, as teams playing NE will be gunning for them, but for different reasons. NE plays San Diego this Sunday, and SD was already hyped up to avenge their loss to NE in the playoffs last year...............now they have even more fuel for the fire, and will take it to NE big time..............win or lose, NE will be battered and beaten up by a very angry SD team.
Philly plays NE later on down the line, giving the Eagles plenty of time to work themselves into a frenzy leading up to the game..............
Cheating to win is almost as bad as dog fighting, and more personal..............the Pats will be lucky if they make it to the playoffs this year, notwithstanding the off season team building...........everybody will be gunning for them, and with a vengeance.
Not only that, the Commissioner's office specifically warned teams against this in an interleague memo on September 6th of this year.
Good. They’ve been there enough, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t want a Colts repeat, either.
NE players like Harrison have always played to hurt opposing players. I have never understood why opposing coaches haven't reciprocated with violence against Harrison and other Pats. Perhaps they are not as ruthless as Belichick, who reminds me of another "coach"...
"Helmet to the knee....is there a problem Mr. Harrison???"
"No, sensei"
Answer to other teams: find a way to get your plays in more secretively. If you watch coach Mike Holmgren, he always covers his face when he audibles a play in. Listening to another team’s headset would be definite spying, video taping another team’s coaches is not.
I am not at all a Patriots fan (I bleed Viking purple and gold), so it pains me to have to stick up for another team. If you really want to know what propelled the Patriots into their dynasty, look at that absolute horrid call in the 2002 AFC playoff game against Oakland. I hate the Raiders with a passion (1977 Super Bowl- ugh!), but that was the worst call I had ever seen in the NFL, and it launched the Patriots into winning that first Super Bowl, and then add 2 more.
I can't specifically answer whether Denver changes signals, but for a long time I have not seen Shanahan call a play with his mouth visible to a camera. He will always hold up a card or something so that no one can read his lips. I used to think it was annoying and paranoid.
You, and my neighbor across the street, have reason to smile........the Vikings should do a whole lot better this year............
I was reading the espn article and it seems like the Pats got busted doing this last year against Green Bay. So that smells like a pattern.
It’s a shame, really.
I was always impressed with the Patriots but now it seems like they will go down in history as a fraud.
Probably not entirely true, but hey, that’s what happens when you cheat or lie. It taints everything you do and usually brings innocent/good people down with you.
Okay — the coach of the offending team gets Fined..
The team loses some draft picks...
Now - what about the PLAYERS who had to know what was going on?
Like the QB for certain — and others most certainly?
These guys get a free foul?
Yep — Thug Ball is becoming more and more the appropriate term..
My opinion — if review of films from the Playoffs or Super Bowl show the same violation - then the team should have to forfeit the championship...
The QB’s mic goes dead 15 seconds until the end of the play clock. So any play calling changes at the line is the QB’s own initiative.
Plus the comment about beating Jim Johnson’s Blitz defense is stupid. Any team with a competent QB and good OL will defeat an idiot Defensive Coordinator that calls Blitzes every down.
Also the Pats have always down screen passes. Why do you think Kevin Faulk is even on their the roster.
“Serious question: why is it wrong to videotape signals from the coaching staff to the players on the field?”
It is against the rules, but I don’t see how it gives a team anymore advantage then the old fashion way of looking over at the other side line and recording what is going on on a clipboard. I guess the video camera is a little bit faster and maybe the zoom lens helps identify things better.
Todays NFL has a lot money. That means more staff that can be dedicated to analyzing the game in real time. Nowadays when the QB comes off the field after a bad drive he is handed a packet of High Res photos. He sits in the bench talking to the Offensive Coordinator going over defensive plays and how to defeat that on the next drive.
The Penalty should have included being docked the Jets game win since they were caught cheating in that game..regardless of the point spread in the game outcome.
It would be much like a school exam cheater gets a zero or the relevant test and possibly more penalties beyond that (unless you are Ted Kennedy cheating on a Spanish exam at Harvard).
A game forfeit hurts immediately regarding this year’s playoff race. Not next season. The fine means little.
and I am not a Jets fan or one of any teams in that division.
Grammar police alert #372. Note to Yahoo headline writer. “Eagles try AND recall anything fishy...” should read “Eagles try TO recall anything fishy...”
The first means the Eagles do two things: they ‘try anything fishy’ and they ‘recall anything fishy.’
The second means what it says.
The easiest solution would be to get rid of the stupid radio/headset entirely. Not only is it patently unfair (as you’ve pointed out), it basically pushes football across that thin line that separates a competitive sport from a staged event.
The Commissioner probably had good information that this was going on and gave a warning to everyone. Then, stupidly, and after being warned, the Patriots get caught. It is a sorry state of affairs that any sports Commissioner has to warn professionals against cheating, and it is even more sorry when professionals get caught!
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