Should the Pats be running up the score on everybody in garbage time?

[prohornblower]

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Not that I disagree, but you are asking 6'2" 250 pound linebackers to be "reasonable" on national television while they're being embarassed 42-0. Adults this large, playing an activity in which controlled strength is to be harnessed, might "snap" now and then and take out Brady's knee.


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Come on. No NFL pro has ever decided to stomp on someone's unprotected head during play. Nobody has ever taken a swing, or spit on anyone, just because they lost their cool. These guys are pros. They can meekly accept being slapped in the face by Bill Belicheck's dick without exercising any poor judgment in the face of an adrenaline-packed moment. They must love it, because otherwise they'd simply stop the Pats offense in a legal manner, right?

Now, when does Albert Haynesworth face Brady?

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lol. You disagree with me so often that 4 sentences in, I still thought you were serious.

[Semtex]

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Not that I disagree, but you are asking 6'2" 250 pound linebackers to be "reasonable" on national television while they're being embarassed 42-0. Adults this large, playing an activity in which controlled strength is to be harnessed, might "snap" now and then and take out Brady's knee.


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Come on. No NFL pro has ever decided to stomp on someone's unprotected head during play. Nobody has ever taken a swing, or spit on anyone, just because they lost their cool. These guys are pros. They can meekly accept being slapped in the face by Bill Belicheck's dick without exercising any poor judgment in the face of an adrenaline-packed moment. They must love it, because otherwise they'd simply stop the Pats offense in a legal manner, right?

Now, when does Albert Haynesworth face Brady?

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[BCPVP]

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I think the reasonable approach to watching the Pats (as a non-Pats fan) is to appreciate how awesome they are, never complain about them running up the score, and 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. Which is fine by me, they can take on whatever risk they happen to feel is acceptable to reap the rewards they are going for. I think its awesome. As a non-Pats fan, I get to watch 60 minutes of awesomeness, and if Brady gets hurt I don't care because I could care less if the Pats win the SB.

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Spot on.

[jstnrgrs]

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I've only skimmed through this thread but I totally agree with everyone who says people complaining about running up the score are whiny and dumb. I'm English and in our sports culture you play as hard as you can till the final whistle. If you get thrashed you get thrashed, don't cry, learn from it and get better, or don't play next time. If the other team are being douches about winning heavy, fair enough, just more incentive for you to beat their asses next time you meet.

I also agree with the poster who said it would be more insulting that a coach takes out his best players against his opponents, as if to say "you're done, play against the reserves for a while".

Also, I would imagine that the second string would play even harder, to prove to their coaches that they're worthy of a starting place next week, so maybe taking out your big guns isn't taking it that easy anyway? Or is the gulf in quality between starters and reserves that great?

And another thing, blatantly running down the clock sucks too.

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Well, blatently running down the clock is just giving your team the best chance to win (just like playing your starters). Since there is a play clock, and only 4 downs and your opponent may have timeouts available, it can only be done in certain circumstances. However, EVERY football team will run out the clock ANY time they are able to. Otherwise, this might happen. (BTW, the coach who called this play was fired the next day, and never worked in football again.)

[jstnrgrs]

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Totally agree with giraffeboy77 about everything he said - except the last statement. I was in the stadium for that and I just thought everyone was retarded for booing Eli for taking a knee and just don't understand the game atall.

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I do agree its kinda ironic that a footballing (soccering?) nation accustomed to games ending 0-0 would boo the final moments of a 13-10 game.

I understand why he takes the knee, but it still kinda sucks that the game is effectively over with time still to play. Couldn't the NFL just ban knee-taking? Is there any other reason for doing this apart from running out time? I feel that a team should be always trying to advance in a game, the fans pay the salaries so they should get a full games entertainment.

(And yes, I know that in soccer teams timewaste every chance they get to defend their lead (playing in the corners, faking injuries etc.), but the other team has got at least a slim chance to come back, plus time gets added on at the referee's discretion).

I like NFL but don't like games petering out in the last couple of minutes, especially when its a close one. I wanna see 80 yard TD throws in OT, just not against the Broncos next time [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Sorry about the hijack BTW.

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I think that NFL fans simply accept that when a team get the ball in a kneel down situation, the game is over. I don't mind it since it is often an exciting situation that leads to the kneel down situation. The team may have just converted a 3rd and long, or stopped their opponents 4th down attempt (unfortunately, the soccer field at wembaly deprived you of a good onsides kick attempt). Long touchdowns aren't the only exciting plays in football.

In arena football, they require that the offence attempt to advance the ball on every play. In practice, this means that the offence hands the ball off for a half-haerted run up the middle (usually a loss of a few yards) that has the same effect as a kneel down.

[vhawk01]

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What is the reward for them running up the score?

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I cannot say off the top of my head who won the SB in 1971. But I can say what happened the next year.

Explain why SB>>>>>>>>>>all when it comes to sports. It might be a little more important, but its not INFINITELY more important. So, taking a 5% hit in your SB chances to give yourself a 50% boost (numbers completely made up) in your chances of breaking the scoring record or going undefeated or setting the TD record or something like that seems entirely reasonable.

The problem comes from people who think that SB = infinity and so every other accomplishment is relatively insignificant. This isnt true to me, at least, and probably not to most fans. And perhaps not to the only people who make the decisions, Bellichick and the Pats.

[kyro]

I still think Belicheck would be treating this differently if the Pats hadn't won 3 SBs with much of the same players, but I could be completely wrong.

[vhawk01]

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Why do 31 other teams in the NFL run the clock down when they have a massive 5 TD lead sewn up?

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The other 31 teams don't have a chance to go down in history as possibly the greatest and most dominating team in the history of football. And to people saying 'They will be considered the same if they grinded out a bunch of 14-10 wins rather than running up the score' - you are wrong. What is wrong in wanting glory and a disgustingly good legacy? I am sure as hell enjoying watching them do just this.

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Exactly. It seems that if anyone should be a little nervous or angry, it should be the old guy Pats fans who just want to see them win a SB. For those of us who arent Pats fans, this is like a freeroll. I get to see them try to make history, and I have nothing to lose. I'm very glad Bellichick is doing this. I'd be glad if I were a Pats fan too, of course, but I think they are the ones who have a legit beef, if they want to.

[vhawk01]

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I still think Belicheck would be treating this differently if the Pats hadn't won 3 SBs with much of the same players, but I could be completely wrong.

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That might be true. I hate it when people try to get in the mindset of professional athletes and pretend like they know what they really feel and think, so I am not going to do that here. Maybe the 5th SB feels just as good as the first, I honestly dont know. It doesnt SEEM like it would, I agree with you, but I've never won one, much less multiple. I know they blather on with useless platitudes about how they all mean everything but I feel fairly confident dismissing that as useless. That doesnt mean it isnt true though.

[RedBean]

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That might be true. I hate it when people try to get in the mindset of professional athletes and pretend like they know what they really feel and think, so I am not going to do that here. Maybe the 5th SB feels just as good as the first, I honestly dont know. It doesnt SEEM like it would, I agree with you, but I've never won one, much less multiple. I know they blather on with useless platitudes about how they all mean everything but I feel fairly confident dismissing that as useless. That doesnt mean it isnt true though.

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If you ask an Atlanta Brave if the 14th division title in row felt the same as the 1st, and I'm pretty sure they'd tell you it didn't.