[RunDownHouse]

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I think the reasonable approach to watching the Pats (as a non-Pats fan) is to... save up energy for laughing at them when some key player gets hurt. Its not that I'm HOPING someone gets hurt, its just that they have absolutely no sympathy if it does happen since they brought it on themselves.

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And there's the rub. When Trent Green gets hurt, or Priest Holmes, or Marc Bulger, whoever, gets hurt, there's an outpouring of sympathy. Those guys are out there doing their best to win the game, and if something happens, it's unfortunate, but that's the risk they take.

If Brady, or Maroney, or Moss get hurt in the third when there is no reason for them to be out there... well, it's much easier to let anger be the overriding emotion. Brady isn't out there to win the game. The game has been won. All of the players are out there to appease Belicheck, Brady, Kraft, whoever. I'm sure some guys on the team are saying, "Undefeated and 60 pts/game, no matter the cost," but how many guys that don't have that mindset are playing anyways, simply because Bill Belichick is pissed off?

The biggest bull[censored] justification is, "Well, they might still lose!" We all know the stats for largest comeback ever, largest 4th quarter comeback, largest 2nd half comeback, etc. We all can also estimate the Pats' chances of getting home field advantage in the playoffs. It's ridiculous to play Brady et al on the parlay of both giving up the largest comeback in NFL history and that loss affecting the Pats in any way other than pride.

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If he gets injured because an opposition player puts an intentional, cheap shot on him then Patriots fans have every right to be angry as hell.

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Sure, they can be pissed. But say it's the last minute of the game, Brady runs a sneak from the 5 and scores to make it 100-0, the Pats kick onsides and recover, and then, on the last snap, Brady drops back to throw a Hail Mary... how much should the Pats be pissed and how much should they say, "We brought this on ourselves?" What if the game is still 100% won for the Pats, as before, but Belichick calls a screen, and a starting lineman gets his knee blown out trying to spring it for more points? The entire "Play to win the game" argument so far loved by Pats fans and media goes out the window in those cases, and all that's left is the careers of guys sacrificed by Bill. Sure, there's a small chance of those things happening. But how small is negligible, and how many small chances can you run before luck runs out?

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That and the fact that we can't blame Belicheck for Brady getting hurt

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Really? You admit Brady didn't need to be in last week. If he had gotten hurt, you wouldn't question his being in the game in the least? I don't get that. According to you, Brady shouldn't have been in the game. He went in, got hurt, and the person that decided to play him is blameless? I don't get it.

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I don't know any other sport where a team has to stop playing just because they've effectively already won the game.

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How about baseball? It's built into the structure, after all.

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I feel like some people who don't like them running up the score forget that the regular season is important too

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I really don't get this argument. In what scenario has point differential mattered? When was the last time playoff contention has gone past record, past head-to-head, and down to offensive points scored?

There are a bunch of valid reasons for those that argue the Pats should just take knees at the end of the game. I'd love to hear some for why they should be sneaking their HOF franchise QB when up 40 into the 3rd.