All I have to say is “FINALLY”. After winning 3 Super Bowls and being one of the few dynasties to ever exist in pro football the New England Patriots have now exposed to the world one component of their success. No, I am not talking about their ability to scout talent or Belichick’s unique coaching philosophy (which are undeniably the best in the NFL). I am talking about their ability to “predict” their opponent’s defensive schemes and “skillfully” call the right play to counter attack that defense.  Upon recent revelations, those abilities are neither skillful nor good coaching, they are plain and simple CHEATING!

After years of speculating by opponents and coaches around the NFL, it is now official that the Patriots “uncanny” ability to put their offense in the perfect scheme has been due to the fact they have been taping the defense signals of opposing teams. You may ask yourself, “How is that such a terrible offense that merits one to say that they are cheating?” It is plain and simple; first, the NFL has rules in place that clearly define that an opposing team cannot film the other coaches during the game. The rule is designed to protect integrity and the skillfulness of the game. Much like certain substances are banned from competition for players because they can provide an unfair advantage over the opponent, the same can be applied for this rule. Second, any NFL team with the right support staff can correlate defensive signals with defensive schemes within 2-4 series. That means a team could totally decipher an opponents game plan within a quarter and a half. (In the Patriots case, they could have all the defensive play calls completely translated the next time they play Jets or when they face a repeat team in the playoffs.) All an offensive coach would have to do is call in a personnel group, have the QB line them up in a no huddle, wait for the opposing defense coach to call in the scheme, and then the offensive coordinator would then call in the play to expose the defense with plenty of time for the offense to execute it. 

Clearly by all means what the Patriots have been found guilty falls in violation of the competitive balance the NFL establishes each year. Just as if a player were found to have used steroids or HGH to gain a competitive advantage and is suspended a certain number of games, the same severity of punishment should be handed down to the Patriots. As such if I were Commissioner Goodell and since this was a first time offense I would recommend ONE or MORE of the following punishments to be handed down on the New England Patriots.

1)      A loss of their 2^nd, 4th and 6^th round draft picks for the 2008 NFL Draft.

2)      A suspension of 4 regular season games for Coach Belickick and the Assistant Head Coach (without pay)

3)      Reduction in Salary Cap for the 2008 Season

4)   Loss of a NFL Playoff home game

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 12:59 am and is filed under Coaching, Discussion, Opinions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.