Stuart Ullman
Footballguy
Some thought provoking questions going into the Super Bowl.
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I agree that there's no way the NFL is telling the referees to call things in New England's favor. That's ridiculous.. But I do see a little bit of the Michael Jordan effect happening in the last few years as far as the Patriots go. I think referees are human and I think they can be intimidated by greatness just like the other teams can be. I don't think they want Belicheck screaming at them. Where I don't think they really give two craps if most other coaches do. To watch the games, you can't possibly deny that the Patriots get a lot of iffy calls. Especially down the stretch. But again, absolutely zero chance that the league wants it that way or that it's pre-planned.So the team the NFL hates the most, that has so many haters across the NFL fan base is going to sanction the Ref's to help the Patriots win ?
LOL
Yeah that makes sense that the NFL is helping the Patriots after targeting them over the years
But hey - give the Patriots more fuel and fire for the Super Bowl - I love it
This is the correct answerBrady is the goat. The goats get the calls from the refs and rhe pats cheat as much as possible
A lot of it is simply the fact that Brady and Belichick are both so great at what they do. That can't be discounted. But another factor is that the rest of that division has been so pitiful for so long. All the other divisions have teams that rotate being good and the competition changes. New England has such a cake divisional schedule, that they're 6-0 or 5-1 before the season starts. So they have an upper hand on home field advantage every year. And we all know how big that can be in the playoffsI have a question about the AFC:
- How in the hell is no one able to force the Pats out the playoffs before the AFFC game every year? Seven straight AFCC appearances?
Their winning percentage vs the afc east must be way higher than the other divisions, huh?A lot of it is simply the fact that Brady and Belichick are both so great at what they do. That can't be discounted. But another factor is that the rest of that division has been so pitiful for so long. All the other divisions have teams that rotate being good and the competition changes. New England has such a cake divisional schedule, that they're 6-0 or 5-1 before the season starts. So they have an upper hand on home field advantage every year. And we all know how big that can be in the playoffs
I don’t believe the refs favour the pats but let’s remember Goodell destroyed evidence against them. So give the witch hunt crap a rest.So the team the NFL hates the most, that has so many haters across the NFL fan base is going to sanction the Ref's to help the Patriots win ?
LOL
Yeah that makes sense that the NFL is helping the Patriots after targeting them over the years
But hey - give the Patriots more fuel and fire for the Super Bowl - I love it
A lot of it is simply the fact that Brady and Belichick are both so great at what they do. That can't be discounted. But another factor is that the rest of that division has been so pitiful for so long. All the other divisions have teams that rotate being good and the competition changes. New England has such a cake divisional schedule, that they're 6-0 or 5-1 before the season starts. So they have an upper hand on home field advantage every year. And we all know how big that can be in the playoffs
28-3 vs the billsTheir winning percentage vs the afc east must be way higher than the other divisions, huh?
This is not true. Their winning percentage outside of the AFC East is nearly indentical to inside the division and the AFC East has not been any worse than any other division over the years. NYJ, Miami and Buffalo have all made playoff appearances along with New England during this run.A lot of it is simply the fact that Brady and Belichick are both so great at what they do. That can't be discounted. But another factor is that the rest of that division has been so pitiful for so long. All the other divisions have teams that rotate being good and the competition changes. New England has such a cake divisional schedule, that they're 6-0 or 5-1 before the season starts. So they have an upper hand on home field advantage every year. And we all know how big that can be in the playoffs
People bring this up from time to time.I don’t believe the refs favour the pats but let’s remember Goodell destroyed evidence against them. So give the witch hunt crap a rest.
I'm not sure that's entirely true. The bills, fins and jets are all in the bottom 12 over the past decade. And have 8 winning seasons between them. httpsw.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/every-nfl-teams-10-year-record-ranked-32-1-010417This is not true. Their winning percentage outside of the AFC East is nearly indentical to inside the division and the AFC East has not been any worse than any other division over the years. NYJ, Miami and Buffalo have all made playoff appearances along with New England during this run.
What can’t be debated is that over the last 15 years the QBs in the AFC East other than Brady have been the absolute worst of any division in football.I'm not sure that's entirely true. The bills, fins and jets are all in the bottom 12 over the past decade. And have 8 winning seasons between them. httpsw.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/every-nfl-teams-10-year-record-ranked-32-1-010417
Of course they played the Patriots 20 times in those 10 years (regular season). A better argument can be made that the Patriots make those 3 look worse than they'd be in any other division.
Thought provoking?Some thought provoking questions going into the Super Bowl.
20% of 6 games is 1.2 games. If the earlier poster's numbers were correct, that is most definitely a big difference. Give the Pats 1.2 fewer wins/year over their last 7 seasons, and they lose the #1 seed (but keep a bye) in 3 of those season, and they lose a bye in 3 of the other seasons. In the 7th season, their playoff seeding wouldn't have changed.This is not true. Their winning percentage outside of the AFC East is nearly indentical to inside the division and the AFC East has not been any worse than any other division over the years. NYJ, Miami and Buffalo have all made playoff appearances along with New England during this run.
Not sure what you are trying to show with your math. NE's winning percentage in division vs. out of their division is in the order of .005. No matter where you put them in terms of a division, they would still win at a rate between 12-13 games.Bayhawks said:20% of 6 games is 1.2 games. If the earlier poster's numbers were correct, that is most definitely a big difference. Give the Pats 1.2 fewer wins/year over their last 7 seasons, and they lose the #1 seed (but keep a bye) in 3 of those season, and they lose a bye in 3 of the other seasons. In the 7th season, their playoff seeding wouldn't have changed.
.787 vs .767Not sure what you are trying to show with your math. NE's winning percentage in division vs. out of their division is in the order of .005. No matter where you put them in terms of a division, they would still win at a rate between 12-13 games.
Your math is incorrect.Bayhawks said:20% of 6 games is 1.2 games. If the earlier poster's numbers were correct, that is most definitely a big difference. Give the Pats 1.2 fewer wins/year over their last 7 seasons, and they lose the #1 seed (but keep a bye) in 3 of those season, and they lose a bye in 3 of the other seasons. In the 7th season, their playoff seeding wouldn't have changed.
I was obviously trying to show you that I'm bad at math, and even worse when it's super early & I haven't had my coffee yet.Not sure what you are trying to show with your math. NE's winning percentage in division vs. out of their division is in the order of .005. No matter where you put them in terms of a division, they would still win at a rate between 12-13 games.
They generally have home field. Terrible division they play in. They lost at denver twice to peyton in afccg. Baltimore the joe flacco miracle year beat them in foxboroSaintsInDome2006 said:I have a question about the AFC:
- How in the hell is no one able to force the Pats out the playoffs before the AFFC game every year? Seven straight AFCC appearances?
It's a lot more than longevity and aggregate numbers.JuniorNB said:Brady is a combination awesome quarterback plus numbers compiler. Some guys were never that great but they had longevity and their overall numbers look awesome at the end of their careers. Other than a knee injury, Brady has been very fortunate, injury-wise. His game doesn't really leave him vulnerable to injury. Never runs, Superfast release, and mostly short routes with three step drops. So he's still playing well at 40 where other great quarterbacks never got that chance. So the Championships and statistics that Brady is racking up are getting ridiculously impressive. So you have a top 5, talent-wise, quarterback of all time who is still playing great when is competition was tailing off or out of football together. So I would put him as top 5, everything being equal, but his longevity makes him the greatest of all time.
no, no, yes But the last question is wrong - he is already the GOAT and the outcome of this super bowl won't change that.
Because nothing was ever made public and nobody knows for sure what they did. So it was destroyed before anyone outside the NFL head office viewed it. If it was just sideline footage it's one thing. But if they were filming team practices and walkthroughs it's a lot different. And that evidence was destroyed in a way that makes me suspicious that there was something really bad they didn't want made public.brun said:People bring this up from time to time.
Once the league made its decision and executed its punishment, the issue is closed. I don't see why it should keep a bunch of videotapes that don't need to be viewed again.
Because at the time, New England had squeaked out a couple of 3 point Super Bowl victories and the league had no idea how to handle things if it was proven that the cheating affected those games. It was a string they didn't want to start pulling on.Because nothing was ever made public and nobody knows for sure what they did. So it was destroyed before anyone outside the NFL head office viewed it. If it was just sideline footage it's one thing. But if they were filming team practices and walkthroughs it's a lot different. And that evidence was destroyed in a way that makes me suspicious that there was something really bad they didn't want made public.
Why would they ever have destroyed the evidence. What about appeals or court cases? Makes no sense unless you wanted to hide the fact that maybe their super bowl wins were tainted. If that went public it would have killed the NFL.
These practice/walkthrough tapes never had any evidence beyond an "unnamed source". And Patriots video guy who taped on the sidelines denied it to Goodell.Because nothing was ever made public and nobody knows for sure what they did. So it was destroyed before anyone outside the NFL head office viewed it. If it was just sideline footage it's one thing. But if they were filming team practices and walkthroughs it's a lot different. And that evidence was destroyed in a way that makes me suspicious that there was something really bad they didn't want made public.
Why would they ever have destroyed the evidence. What about appeals or court cases? Makes no sense unless you wanted to hide the fact that maybe their super bowl wins were tainted. If that went public it would have killed the NFL.
Yeah and if they made the evidence public we wouldn't have to guess what happened. You really have no idea what Goodell did or didn't know. Should have been an independent investigator who made their findings public. Problem for the NFL is that could have led to billions in losses if serious things were found. The tough act later is just pr, to make it look like they're really tough on cheating, nothing else.These practice/walkthrough tapes never had any evidence beyond an "unnamed source". And Patriots video guy who taped on the sidelines denied it to Goodell.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d808590d5/article/boston-herald-writer-expresses-regret-over-false-report
A lot of teams still believe the Patriots bug their locker rooms. No evidence was ever found, unless the NFL is also suppressing that too. I mean, we never see the actual reports from the bug-sweeping guys used by the NFL.
https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/10/30/9644900/patriots-jets-bug-cheating-locker-room-nfl
From what I remember, there was talk at the time that the videos showed defensive coordinators hand signals and then shots of the scoreboard to show down, distance, and field position. (over and over again). One of the reasons (allegedly) things were destroyed is that on some of the videos, the cameraman zoomed in on a cameraman FROM THE OTHER TEAM and they waved to each other. So one of the possible explanations would have been that by releasing the videos, it would have shown other teams doing similar things. I also heard rumors that the camera guy would zoom in on attractive women and made crude comments about them.Because nothing was ever made public and nobody knows for sure what they did. So it was destroyed before anyone outside the NFL head office viewed it. If it was just sideline footage it's one thing. But if they were filming team practices and walkthroughs it's a lot different. And that evidence was destroyed in a way that makes me suspicious that there was something really bad they didn't want made public.
Why would they ever have destroyed the evidence. What about appeals or court cases? Makes no sense unless you wanted to hide the fact that maybe their super bowl wins were tainted. If that went public it would have killed the NFL.
See their division and an easy bye for Saturday night home field advantage in the divisional round.SaintsInDome2006 said:I have a question about the AFC:
- How in the hell is no one able to force the Pats out the playoffs before the AFFC game every year? Seven straight AFCC appearances?
The league has never had a good answer for this, and we'll never know because billions are at stake.Because nothing was ever made public and nobody knows for sure what they did. So it was destroyed before anyone outside the NFL head office viewed it. If it was just sideline footage it's one thing. But if they were filming team practices and walkthroughs it's a lot different. And that evidence was destroyed in a way that makes me suspicious that there was something really bad they didn't want made public.
Why would they ever have destroyed the evidence. What about appeals or court cases? Makes no sense unless you wanted to hide the fact that maybe their super bowl wins were tainted. If that went public it would have killed the NFL.
I don't agree with this unless the league did a full audit and investigation of ALL teams to air their dirty laundry as well. If all the other teams had skeletons in their closet or were doing the same things as NE was, then to release only the dirt on the Pats would make them look deplorable. People like to think that NE is the devil and 31 other teams are the girl next store, sweet 16, and never been kissed.Yeah and if they made the evidence public we wouldn't have to guess what happened. You really have no idea what Goodell did or didn't know. Should have been an independent investigator who made their findings public. Problem for the NFL is that could have led to billions in losses if serious things were found. The tough act later is just pr, to make it look like they're really tough on cheating, nothing else.
Yup, just a few weeks ago, the NFL swept the Packer's obvious rule-breaking under the rug without any investigation at all. There was no evidence that Rodgers had any new injury at all, and certainly didn't have a new serious injury that would sideline him for 6+ weeks. A 6+ week injury could easily be verified or not by an independent NFL doctor.I don't agree with this unless the league did a full audit and investigation of ALL teams to air their dirty laundry as well. If all the other teams had skeletons in their closet or were doing the same things as NE was, then to release only the dirt on the Pats would make them look deplorable. People like to think that NE is the devil and 31 other teams are the girl next store, sweet 16, and never been kissed.
Different rules for different players. I'm not sure if the Packers even knew this rule existed. I can just imagine the chaos in the league office when they discovered what had just happened. Had that been Jeff Janis, the league would have deemed him a free agent.Yup, just a few weeks ago, the NFL swept the Packer's obvious rule-breaking under the rug without any investigation at all. There was no evidence that Rodgers had any new injury at all, and certainly didn't have a new serious injury that would sideline him for 6+ weeks. A 6+ week injury could easily be verified or not by an independent NFL doctor.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/12/24/nfl-teams-reportedly-think-the-packers-should-have-to-release-aaron-rodgers-over-ir-move/?utm_term=.d241d69f18bc
"...Teams are taking issue with this because Rodgers reportedly suffered no new injury and NFL rules require that a player must have suffered a new injury that would sideline him at least six weeks to be placed on injured reserve. If that is not the case, the team is obligated to release the player when he is healthy."
I have no idea whether the Packers knew the rule. An investigation would determine that. Even if they didn't, that's too bad for them: the rule should still be enforced the same for every team.Different rules for different players. I'm not sure if the Packers even knew this rule existed. I can just imagine the chaos in the league office when they discovered what had just happened. Had that been Jeffrey Janus, the league would have deemed him a free agent.