Running Up The Score

I can't believe that this is an issue. I'm not even going to bother to talk about past teams such as the 2004 Colts -- it is worth mentioning, though, that in his argument against the Patriots, Dr. Z of CNNSI.com defends the 2004 Colts for "running up the score" because their defense hadn't been playing well in weeks past, thereby justifying the Colts offense to score late in games. Never mind that the Patriots defense played extremely poorly against the Dolphins in their week nine game or that the Cowboys moved the ball very well on the Patriots.

There's not much else to say besides this: It's professional sports and the job of the offense is to score. The Patriots have plenty of class. It's the defense's job to stop the offense. If any of these neanderthals that say the Patriots have been running up the score on their opponents actually watched the Redskins game, they'd know that the Patriots could have put 70 points up without much effort. That's not an exaggeration. That would be running the score up. Instead, what the Patriots did - rather than attempt to humiliate their opposition - was to use their opportunity to run their offense against live competition. They ran the ball the vast majority of the time, and when they did pass, it was generally in order to counter the Redskins from blitzing everyone to stop the run.

There is no hand-holding in the National Football League. At the bottom of piles when the ball is fumbled, guys are throwing punches and grabbing who knows what. Bill Belichick is trying to make sure that his team plays a complete 60 minutes and does not get complacent. The Patriots lost to the Colts in the 2006 AFC title game because they didn't play a complete game - not for all 60 minutes.

It really boils down to this: if the Patriots did not have class, they would have rubbed their opposition's nose in defeat. I'm pretty sure that the Patriots remained humble after defeating the Redskins. Wade Phillips, then the defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, shouted "Well, that was an ass kicking," after defeating the Patriots 41-17 at Gillette Stadium during the 2005 season. One of the Chargers cornerbacks joined in and shouted "We kicked your ass" to those remaining in the stands. That, as Ladanian Tomlinson says, is what one can describe as "no class."

The Patriots do not run around talking about how great they are and how they just "kicked your ass." They're too classy for that. It's unfortunate that members of the media, filled with blind hatred, fail to see the team's humility, hard work, and dedication to excellence.

If you think the Patriots have been running up the score, then you haven't been watching them and you don't know how good they really are.

Finally, as a side note, ESPN.com, on its Page Two, has a variety of despicable taunts directed at Bill Belichick. They include animations of him cheating, a faux Q&A in which the coach comes off less than admirable, and a column comparing Belichick to rap mogul and convicted felon Suge Knight. What's hysterical about this collection is that the comparison to the convicted felon, Suge Knight is truthfully the most flattering.

Where are the voices of sanity? Why doesn't Peter Gammons write on the NFL? The problem with freedom of the press is that ignorant people get a voice and convince others of the validity of their falsehoods.

One day, hopefully soon, people will look back at Bill Belichick and appreciate what he has done for the game. Belichick is undoubtedly an imperfect person and coach, but he deserves admiration for instilling the ferocious belief in the concept of team amongst his players.