No one doubts the way that the New England Patriots do their business anymore. They are considered the ideal franchise in the NFL, the way every team should conduct their business. However, does that include running up the score on every opponent they face? Does that include bringing the league’s best QB back into the game after it’s out of reach?
The Patriots are not America’s team, and never will be. In reality, they are the new villains of the NFL. They are the team that everyone loves to hate. They solidified that perception this past Sunday when they were not happy just defeating a hapless 0-6 Miami team, instead they insisted on destroying them. Led by quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichek, this team will not stop short of complete domination of the league, and this year, that means 16-0.
A lot has been made of Tom Brady’s six touchdown game against the Dolphins, as people have gone on talking about it as one of the best performances in the history of the NFL. However, if you go back and watch that game, you’d see that Brady wasn’t the impressive part of that performance; Randy Moss was. Moss made two leaping catches in the end zone in double coverage to take sure interceptions away from the Dolphins. The 6’4 Moss continues to be a freak athlete into his thirties and has reasserted him as the most dangerous weapon in the league, even if he isn’t its most polished receiver.
However, if we take Brady’s two touchdown to Moss away from him, and make them the interceptions that they would have been if they were thrown to any other receiver, then his four touchdown, two interception day doesn’t look so legendary.
That isn’t saying that Brady isn’t one of the best quarterbacks in the league, in fact he may be the best in the league. However, why should he receive credit for what isn’t under his control? People should be talking about Moss’ two amazing catches that made Brady look good. Instead, we live in football climate dominated by fantasy stats and ESPN analysts, where his 51 fantasy points and Sean Salisbury screaming at the top of is lungs are what most people know of football.
The other name that is constantly praised is the “mad scientist” of football Bill Belichek. He is depicted as the world’s foremost football mind, and all good that happens to this team is a product of his genius. That simply isn’t true. Again, he is a great coach, but look at what he has to work with. For years, he got by on a good defense, and let his quarterback make just enough plays to win each game. Under those circumstances, he would be a great coach. Now, his defense is nothing better than mediocre, with one young star, Asante Samuel (who will likely opt for free agency next season and leave New England behind,) and a group of aging veterans that are a shadow of their former selves. If the genius in the cutoff sweatshirt was everything that people thought he was, would Cleo Lemon and the Dolphins have scored 28 points against them?
Lastly, there is the cheating debacle of earlier this season where the Patriots were caught stealing signals from the Jets. Regardless of your opinion of what they were doing, or the punishment they received, it has caused Belichek to feel like he has a point to prove. He would never say it, but the reason he keeps running up scores on opponents is that he feels like his genius has been called into question, but is there a point where it becomes bad taste? Yesterday, Brady was pulled in favor of backup Matt Cassel in the fourth quarter. Cassel played terribly, as expected. The Dolphins pulled with in 21 points, and were hardly threatening to make a great comeback and win. Suddenly, Brady came back into the game, threw once more touchdown and the game was even further out of reach. Does that sound necessary?
Two weeks ago, Belichek’s motivation to finish the season perfect would have been called into question. It would have been tempting to talk about the coach sewing up the division on Thanksgiving, and sitting his starters for the last three weeks of December. Now, no one doubts the coach’s desire to prove his dominance. However, it may be that arrogance that costs him his perfect season.
But, Randy Moss will probably just bail him out again.
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