Before the Cleveland Browns joined the NFL the general point of every offensive play was to score a TD. Not get a First Down, not set up a 3rd and manageable.....to SCORE. "Ball Control" and "Scoring Drives" were concepts that Paul Brown invented, and at the time Cleveland's style of play was ridiculed and derided.
In the 1940 NFL Title Game the Bears beat the Redskins 73-0, and no one was accused of "running it up".
So, as you watch the Pats chew Defenses up and spit them out while redefining the concept of the Point Spread in the NFL, don't hate them for "running it up", but instead admire their respect for NFL history and their homage to the teams of yore.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." -- Voltaire
There's no such thing as 'running up the score' anyway. These are highly paid professionals, not high school athletes. We see larger point differentials in college anyway. I don't think the Patriots are 'running up the score' to prove a point, they are doing it to get as many reps as possible (Brady's 3 starting receivers ARE new to the team) and to keep that killer instinct of not letting up (and i'm sure last seasons AFCCG had a lot to do with this new mentality).
Phokus wrote:There's no such thing as 'running up the score' anyway. These are highly paid professionals, not high school athletes. We see larger point differentials in college anyway. I don't think the Patriots are 'running up the score' to prove a point, they are doing it to get as many reps as possible (Brady's 3 starting receivers ARE new to the team) and to keep that killer instinct of not letting up (and i'm sure last seasons AFCCG had a lot to do with this new mentality).
I think you're right that it's about "killer instinct" and the players demanding the best of themselves every time they take the field. That said, even as a Patriots fan (I took a PBC on the Cleveland game with the Pats on bye this week, that's why the avatar) it's hard not to mentally wince at doing that to a Gibbs team. It's true though that Washington hadn't thrown in the towel, so it's understandable, but Gibbs is "old school" coach who deserves a lot of respect, and Belichick wasn't giving it to him. The NFL is a lot bigger deal these days than in 1940. The owners of an 0-16 team want as much respect as those of a 16-0 team. They are very rich people with a lot of pride. Likewise, when you can give a classy tip of your hat to a coach like Gibbs, to me you do that. Belichick missed a golden opportunity to put that classless hoodie image to rest. Maybe he likes it; maybe it motivates him
aaawall91 wrote:Yeah but it's my understanding he wasn't knowingly cheating...unless I'm mistaken on that.
Bellechik isn't stupid, in fact he is quite the opposite. He knew exactly what he was doing and he knew that it was against the rules. He may have said in a statement that he didn't know it was cheating which is where your understanding may have come from, but make no mistake, he knew he was cheating.
The Patriots do run up the score, but they're not doing it to show-off, or get back at the NFL for the cheating thing. They do it so that they can be "the bad guy." This is the mentality that Belichick (SP?) loves and his players buy into. Remember the Superbowl a few years ago that they were favored to win. There were players after the game who said something to the effect of "It feels good to win. We were being disrespected and no one thought we could win." -- even though they were favored. It's this under-dog, bad-guy attitude that Belichick uses as a motivational tool.
In the interest of full disclosure: I can't stand the Patriots and Bill Belichick, but I can appreciate this amazing team and Belichick's coaching ability. It's really a spectacular thing to see in today's game.
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by Kilroy » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:27 am 
