betED.com - The View from the Couch - by Gavin McDougald!
December 12th, 2007 - The Perfect Spread
Way back when, when the New England Patriots were only 10-0, questions about their ability to remain undefeated were raised in many quarters. There was talk of complacency setting in. How week to week, the levels of intensity required to remain unbeaten would become too taxing. How their motivation would falter. As the season has continued, Randy Moss was labeled the ?chink in the armor? because he couldn't be counted on to remain disciplined.
Now we see all that for what it was - perfectly silly.
Head coach Bill Belichick doesn't let stuff like that bother his team. It's because stuff like that doesn't bother him. Look at what happened earlier in the season. ?Spy-Gate?? Who cares? Slapped with the biggest fine in league history and losing a first round draft pick? No biggee. Called a cheater by none other than Don Shula? So what!
This guy simply doesn't permit distractions - unless of course they work in his favor.
Last week Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith ?guaranteed? a Steelers victory. That was all the Patriots needed. New England made a point of picking on him as often as they could, resulting in some spectacular and embarrassing (for Smith) results. He bit on a play fake that ended with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Moss. Then he was beaten by Jabar Gaffney on a double lateral from Brady to Moss to Brady.
At games end, the usually taciturn Tom Brady trash talked him off the field. ?I can't repeat what I said,? Brady said, ?especially if my mother reads it. She wouldn't like it.?
Belichick was even less charitable.
?The safety play at that position was pretty inviting,? he said. ?We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you.?
Ouch.
So, who is the next pigeon on New England's almost inevitable road to NFL immortality?
None other than the New York Jets - the same New York Jets who squealed on the Patriots for using that sideline camera to steal plays.
You think Belichick is thinking about using $500,000 worth of revenge as motivation?
Most folks are. The Patriots were made a 27-point favorite over the Jets in the opening line for Sunday's game at Foxborough. That's the largest opening line ever in the NFL. Huge spreads like that are scary - as demonstrated earlier this month by these same Patriots. On December 3rd, New England were the 20-point favorites over Baltimore, a record for a road team, however they barely won, 27-24, and obviously didn't come close to covering.
This week however, that 27-point opening may have been a bit on the low side.
First off, the Patriots are 13-0 and the Jets are 3-10. Then there is their recent history. Belichick did not want Eric Mangini, then his defensive coordinator, to take the Jets' coaching job in 2006. He did anyway. Then Mangini went and spilled the beans on the camera nonsense in their season opening match-up causing his old boss to get saddled with the nickname, ?Beli-cheat.?
And now it turns out that Mangini himself was caught using the same trick ? against the Patriots! Newsday is reporting that according to league sources, the Jets were caught using a videotaping device during a game in Foxborough last season that resulted in the removal of a Jets employee.
The record for the most lopsided victory in the NFL history was the Chicago Bears' 73-0 massacre of the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL championship game.
That record may well be in jeopardy.
Then there are the remaining two games. It's fitting that it was the 1972 Miami Dolphins who last went 16-0, because after dispatching the Jets, the Patriots get Miami, who may be on target for perfect season of their own. Perfectly terrible that is. At 0-13, they are poised to become the only winless team in the NFL history.
Belichick surely will appreciate the symmetry of that - and he gets to stick it to Shula as a fringe benefit.
The Patriots season ends with what could have been a great game; however, it will only mean something to one of the teams playing. The NY Giants beating Philadelphia on Sunday all but guarantees them a spot in the playoffs. Next week they can clinch a wild-card spot if they beat a banged up Washington.
So come game time on Saturday, December 29th, the Patriots will be playing for a perfect regular season, and the Giants will be resting starters for their wildcard game the following week.
Not that they could beat the Patriots at full strength anyway.
Now, there are some who are theorizing that New England won't play hard as the season closes because they realize that the real prize isn't going undefeated, it's winning the Super Bowl.
Bill Belichick knows that somebody wins the Super Bowl every year.
No team has ever gone 16-0 in the regular season.
Until this year.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Bet on NFL Odds at betED.com here!
December 12th, 2007 - The Perfect Spread
Way back when, when the New England Patriots were only 10-0, questions about their ability to remain undefeated were raised in many quarters. There was talk of complacency setting in. How week to week, the levels of intensity required to remain unbeaten would become too taxing. How their motivation would falter. As the season has continued, Randy Moss was labeled the ?chink in the armor? because he couldn't be counted on to remain disciplined.
Now we see all that for what it was - perfectly silly.
Head coach Bill Belichick doesn't let stuff like that bother his team. It's because stuff like that doesn't bother him. Look at what happened earlier in the season. ?Spy-Gate?? Who cares? Slapped with the biggest fine in league history and losing a first round draft pick? No biggee. Called a cheater by none other than Don Shula? So what!
This guy simply doesn't permit distractions - unless of course they work in his favor.
Last week Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith ?guaranteed? a Steelers victory. That was all the Patriots needed. New England made a point of picking on him as often as they could, resulting in some spectacular and embarrassing (for Smith) results. He bit on a play fake that ended with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Moss. Then he was beaten by Jabar Gaffney on a double lateral from Brady to Moss to Brady.
At games end, the usually taciturn Tom Brady trash talked him off the field. ?I can't repeat what I said,? Brady said, ?especially if my mother reads it. She wouldn't like it.?
Belichick was even less charitable.
?The safety play at that position was pretty inviting,? he said. ?We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you.?
Ouch.
So, who is the next pigeon on New England's almost inevitable road to NFL immortality?
None other than the New York Jets - the same New York Jets who squealed on the Patriots for using that sideline camera to steal plays.
You think Belichick is thinking about using $500,000 worth of revenge as motivation?
Most folks are. The Patriots were made a 27-point favorite over the Jets in the opening line for Sunday's game at Foxborough. That's the largest opening line ever in the NFL. Huge spreads like that are scary - as demonstrated earlier this month by these same Patriots. On December 3rd, New England were the 20-point favorites over Baltimore, a record for a road team, however they barely won, 27-24, and obviously didn't come close to covering.
This week however, that 27-point opening may have been a bit on the low side.
First off, the Patriots are 13-0 and the Jets are 3-10. Then there is their recent history. Belichick did not want Eric Mangini, then his defensive coordinator, to take the Jets' coaching job in 2006. He did anyway. Then Mangini went and spilled the beans on the camera nonsense in their season opening match-up causing his old boss to get saddled with the nickname, ?Beli-cheat.?
And now it turns out that Mangini himself was caught using the same trick ? against the Patriots! Newsday is reporting that according to league sources, the Jets were caught using a videotaping device during a game in Foxborough last season that resulted in the removal of a Jets employee.
The record for the most lopsided victory in the NFL history was the Chicago Bears' 73-0 massacre of the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL championship game.
That record may well be in jeopardy.
Then there are the remaining two games. It's fitting that it was the 1972 Miami Dolphins who last went 16-0, because after dispatching the Jets, the Patriots get Miami, who may be on target for perfect season of their own. Perfectly terrible that is. At 0-13, they are poised to become the only winless team in the NFL history.
Belichick surely will appreciate the symmetry of that - and he gets to stick it to Shula as a fringe benefit.
The Patriots season ends with what could have been a great game; however, it will only mean something to one of the teams playing. The NY Giants beating Philadelphia on Sunday all but guarantees them a spot in the playoffs. Next week they can clinch a wild-card spot if they beat a banged up Washington.
So come game time on Saturday, December 29th, the Patriots will be playing for a perfect regular season, and the Giants will be resting starters for their wildcard game the following week.
Not that they could beat the Patriots at full strength anyway.
Now, there are some who are theorizing that New England won't play hard as the season closes because they realize that the real prize isn't going undefeated, it's winning the Super Bowl.
Bill Belichick knows that somebody wins the Super Bowl every year.
No team has ever gone 16-0 in the regular season.
Until this year.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Bet on NFL Odds at betED.com here!
