"Game of the Millenium" - Behind Belichick's Madness
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by Kwinger 00
I can't pass up talking about the "Game of the Millenium." I totally understand what Bill Belichick (Happy Birthday by the way - Bill turned 61 today. He doesn't look a day over 62) is doing. After what happened with the now 1-7 Jets, and the "Mangenius" (we shouldn't be so quick to hand out sweet nicknames like that, huh) turning his back on his former boss, Belichick is pissed off. He's always looked pissed off, even when he smiles, but now he's really pissed off. Apparently everyone in the NFL steals signals, but he was the one that got caught. Unfortunately for the rest of the NFL, Belichick is armed with a bazooka to everyone else's slingshot.
What I don't understand is all the fuss about him running up the score. What did you think was going to happen after one of his former coach's ratted him out? He's got an opportunity to make a statement to the rest of the NFL that he, of all people, does not need to cheat to win. Plus, this isn't college. Every team in the NFL has the same amount of money to spend, so it's not like this is a FBS team playing a Division II schedule. Plus, those guys don't get paid - they go to school. NFL players are (over)paid to play this game. Every team has the same resources, the Patriots just know how to use them more effectively. If your defense can't come close to stopping the Patriots offense, and your offense still has its starters out there trying to make it as close as possible, doesn't it make sense for the Patriots to avoid the game even getting close?
Check out that Dolphins game from a couple weeks ago. The Pats led 42-7 early in the fourth quarter when Brady went out. Enter Matt Cassell (who, by the way, has more NFL attempts in his 3 years in N.E. - 37 - than he did in his college career at USC - 33 - where he backed up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart), who threw an interception for a touchdown that made it 42-21. One more touchdown and it would've been a two possession game in the middle of the fourth quarter. So, Superman has to re-dress, come in and save the day, throwing for his sixth touchdown of the game and sealing the victory. Now, the Patriots make sure the game is over before the back-ups get in, which makes sense. Would it be less embarassing if they took a knee for three straight downs, punted, then had their third-stringers playing against your #1 offense? I'm sure it would be, but this is the NFL. Stop whining about getting your ass kicked and do something about it.
As far as the game is concerned, even though it's at Indy, the Patriots are favored by 6.5 points. Two undefeated teams in the middle of the year, and the away team is favored by 6.5 points. That's how good this team is. Plus, to make matters worse for the Colts, Belichick is pissed off (we've covered that) and the Pats have lost their last three to the Colts, including last year's debacle in the AFC Championship game. That's enough for me, I'll take the Patriots and the points in this one.
