POSTED 1:27 p.m. EDT, September 18, 2007
BELICHICK, PATS PISSED OFF
Though there still could be some more consequences down the road from last week's spy scandal, the controversy that arose last week -- and the media scrutiny that it caused -- has had a significant effect on the franchise.
As one league insider explained it on Monday afternoon, "[Coach Bill] Belichick is pissed, and he wants to go undefeated."
After trashing two of the other five 2006 AFC playoff teams by the identical score of 38-14 on consecutive Sundays, the Patriots clearly have the talent to run the table. A storm of accusations arising from past tactics is giving Belichick all the incentive that he needs to aim for a 16-0, and all the ammo he'd require to get the troops appropriately motivated.
The on-field leader of the troops already is on board with the chip-on-the-shoulder routine, as evidenced by his Monday comments on WEEI radio in Boston. According to the Boston Herald, quarterback Tom Brady lashed out at the critics, calling any suggestion that he received advance information "absurd."
"By no means am I sitting here getting plays and getting defenses and checking plays based on defenses that I'm getting. That's completely absurd," Brady said. "If that was the case, I think that's just ridiculous. You know, I hear other players, based on what I've heard on television, that 'Brady's getting defenses.' I'm saying, 'That's just ridiculous.'
"But like I said, we pick our battles, and the ones that we are most capable of fighting are the ones we play. Rather than respond with words, we respond through actions. It was a long week because you hear this, but at the same time, people will see." Apart from the possibility that the Pats will ride the "us against the world" train long enough to bogart the bubbly from the members of the 1972 Dolphins, we think that Belichick or Brady or someone needs to explain exactly what the purpose of videotaping the defensive signals was, if Brady is telling the truth.
Then again, it could be that Brady was only ever told what plays to run and/or which defenders to watch for; such an approach prevents players from knowing too much about the shenanigans, and helps to perpetuate within the locker room the notion that the coaches are super-geniuses.
Source: ProFootballTalk.com 
Cheaters motivated 
Linear Mode
