New England will Not make playoffs

[revefsreleets]

I never blame the refs...I call them out when they suck, but i have ALWAYS stated that good teams overcome adversity, and poor and/or biased officiating is adversity.

True enough, I don't like the Pats, and it makes it hard for me to remain unbiased on this issue, but there are just too many circumstances pointing towards them cheating to ignore.

I still think Belichick's record is almost proof just on it's own. He was 41-55 PRIOR to the first suspicion of him cheating, and he's like 130-30 after. The guy got a taste of winning after he started shooting dirty pool and there's no way he was going back after that...

[LVSteelersfan]

Until that hoodie wearing jerk is gone, I have no respect whatsoever for the Patriots. He never would admit what he did was wrong. And you know if he was doing the video taping, that he wouldn't think twice about circumventing other things like messing with the audio signals. I still think Brady is extremely overrated. He is absolutely useless if the defense gets to him. He has no elusive skills like Ben. He goes down like a sack of potatoes without even trying to get away. Sorry, I don't buy the greatness.

[steelerdave1969]

The only way the Pats dont make the playoffs again this year is If Tom Brady goes down again... I just hope the Steelers get the opportunity to beat them on their way to 7

[jasonhightower]

I think the Bills may have a shot, at least when they meet in Buffalo.

[SteelersTilIDie]

theyre obviosly gonna make the playoffs and go far in them barring injury they're one of the best teams in the entire league

[Gnutella]

Am I the only Steeler fan who's tired of all the "Patriots are cheaters" crap? I really don't think it made as much of a difference as a lot of people think. Cameras sure didn't help them in 2002, 2005 or 2006, and the lack of cameras didn't prevent them from achieving a perfect regular season in 2007. And while we all get a chuckle out of their Super Bowl loss, it's worth remembering that Stephen Neal, a.k.a. their best offensive lineman, left the game early with an injury. (If you don't believe losing your best offensive lineman makes a difference, take a look at our offensive line between 2007 and 2008.)

Plain and simple, I don't see a very strong correlation between New England's success and their use of cameras. Besides, cameras didn't make Troy Edwards run out of bounds when he shouldn't have. Cameras didn't make Kordell Stewart overthrow a 6'5" WR twice on consecutive possessions. Cameras didn't burn Ben Roethlisberger out down the stretch in 2004. They beat us fair and square, and hopefully we can reimburse them this season. But spare me all the "cheaters" garbage.

[revefsreleets]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Am I the only Steeler fan who's tired of all the "Patriots are cheaters" crap? I really don't think it made as much of a difference as a lot of people think. Cameras sure didn't help them in 2002, 2005 or 2006, and the lack of cameras didn't prevent them from achieving a perfect regular season in 2007. And while we all get a chuckle out of their Super Bowl loss, it's worth remembering that Stephen Neal, a.k.a. their best offensive lineman, left the game early with an injury. (If you don't believe losing your best offensive lineman makes a difference, take a look at our offensive line between 2007 and 2008.)

Plain and simple, I don't see a very strong correlation between New England's success and their use of cameras. Besides, cameras didn't make Troy Edwards run out of bounds when he shouldn't have. Cameras didn't make Kordell Stewart overthrow a 6'5" WR twice on consecutive possessions. Cameras didn't burn Ben Roethlisberger out down the stretch in 2004. They beat us fair and square, and hopefully we can reimburse them this season. But spare me all the "cheaters" garbage.

No, I won't. This is very simple. It's NOT just videotaping. There were allegations of stealing playbooks, intercepting radio signals, and perhaps even worse. And this is not hogwash made up by crackpots or conspiracy theorists, but legitimate sources such as competing coaches and the like. Cowher always said football is a game of inches, and gaining an advantage of just a little bit here and there is enough.

I keep coming back to 41-55 and 112-35 (These are the exact numbers). The FIRST allegations of cheating started AFTER the his 5-11 season in NE. He went 112-35 after that. ALL his success was post-allegations. That's just too much smoke for there not to be some fire.

Why is it so hard to accept that the Patriots were cheaters and got caught? They were leveled with the worst sanctions any NFL team has ever suffered. The evidence was summarily destroyed. Why?

Look at the parity in the league. Look at the records. Look at the penalties. There is indisputable evidence that they cheated, and I'm guessing this is an iceberg we'll only ever see the tip of. To call it "garbage" is ignoring the facts, such as they are...

I don't give a rats ass about losing to them. We've staked our claim as the LEGITIMATE best team of the 00's. WE are the team to beat, not the Patriots. The cheating was wrong, but it's also part of the game. I just don't want the issue confused. They are a dirty rotten underhanded organization coached by a dirtball, and they do NOT deserve the respect they are being afforded. The LAST thing they need is Steelers fans apologizing for them...

[RodWoodsonwasprettycool]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Am I the only Steeler fan who's tired of all the "Patriots are cheaters" crap? I really don't think it made as much of a difference as a lot of people think. Cameras sure didn't help them in 2002, 2005 or 2006, and the lack of cameras didn't prevent them from achieving a perfect regular season in 2007. And while we all get a chuckle out of their Super Bowl loss, it's worth remembering that Stephen Neal, a.k.a. their best offensive lineman, left the game early with an injury. (If you don't believe losing your best offensive lineman makes a difference, take a look at our offensive line between 2007 and 2008.)

Plain and simple, I don't see a very strong correlation between New England's success and their use of cameras. Besides, cameras didn't make Troy Edwards run out of bounds when he shouldn't have. Cameras didn't make Kordell Stewart overthrow a 6'5" WR twice on consecutive possessions. Cameras didn't burn Ben Roethlisberger out down the stretch in 2004. They beat us fair and square, and hopefully we can reimburse them this season. But spare me all the "cheaters" garbage.

+1

Everyone cheats, some are just able to hide it more easily

[revefsreleets]

I don't buy that at all. There may be teams looking for slight competitive advantages, but what the Pats did was beyond the pale. It was entrenched, perennial, premeditated full-blown cheating, a willful and well-thought out plan to circumvent the existing rules of the NFL to gain a significant advantage over their opponents, and it looks like it went on for most of the decade.

[Ishkabibble]

NE was fined for rolling tape, not stealing signals. Prior to this, like baseball, the league had no problem with stealing signals. Still photos, using binoculars; no problem. Jimmy Johnson claimed he did the exact same, worse even, when he was coaching. Shanahan used binoculars in the stands to steal signals. These are conveniently forgotten cuz it's never about anything other than discrediting the Patriots, especially around these parts. The Niners and Broncos were fined $100K a day and draft picks for deliberately circumventing the salary cap years ago. So what's to be made of all these supposedly compromised titles?
Also, NE won what, 17 straight games after this incident...so they must've continued stealing signals after getting caught, right? Everyone cheats and it's flat-out naive to think otherwise.