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

[TheNoodleMan]

"Other than the Patriots and the Colts, anybody can beat anybody in this league on any given day."
-Damon Huard

[Semtex]

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I kinda hate the Patriots, but I definitely don't see anything wrong with running the score up. If nothing else it's entertaining and gives people a reason to watch the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of Pats games this season.

btw... Pats undefeated, St Louis and Miami winless... please please please let there be at least one perfect season (16-0 or 0-16; I am not picky)

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0-16 St. Louis is looking pretty likely. Their best chance to win is at home against the Falcons, followed by @ San Fran. If they lose those both I don't think they're winning. The Patriots are not going undefeated because their second strings are going to play against the Giants fighting for playoff position in week 17. Dolphins get the Jets at home, possible Pats bench in week 16 at NE, and Bengals at home for the last game. They gotta win one of those.

[kyro]

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I guess you figure the Pats will never go into a slide and don't mind by some miracle having to go to Indy in the playoffs. Yeah, root for the Colts and then have to beat them on the road for a possible tie-break. Good luck with that. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

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Heh, as a football fan, if I wasn't a fan of either team, I would be really excited to watch the Colts/Pats game if both were still undefeated.

[TheNoodleMan]

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I kinda hate the Patriots, but I definitely don't see anything wrong with running the score up. If nothing else it's entertaining and gives people a reason to watch the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of Pats games this season.

btw... Pats undefeated, St Louis and Miami winless... please please please let there be at least one perfect season (16-0 or 0-16; I am not picky)

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0-16 St. Louis is looking pretty likely. Their best chance to win is at home against the Falcons, followed by @ San Fran. If they lose those both I don't think they're winning. The Patriots are not going undefeated because their second strings are going to play against the Giants fighting for playoff position in week 17. Dolphins get the Jets at home, possible Pats bench in week 16 at NE, and Bengals at home for the last game. They gotta win one of those.

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St. Louis is bad, but they'll get a healthy Bulger and Jackson at some point. Their O-line is awful but they'll find a win or 2.

[34TheTruth34]

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"Other than the Patriots and the Colts, anybody can beat anybody in this league on any given day."
-Damon Huard

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haha nice

[StevieG]

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The Patriots are not going undefeated because their second strings are going to play against the Giants fighting for playoff position in week 17.

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Previously I agreed with that assessment - that the Pats will have no incentive late in the year and therefore drop one.

Now, I'm not so sure. And it's related to the topic of this thread.

There's any number of reasons why this team is piling it on their opponents this year:

Win This Game The other team isn't going to stop scoring, so it makes sense to score on every opportunity (which has been stated well here by many).

The Middle Finger Hypothesis Some sort of "us against the world" pathos driving them to rub it in.

Legacy Already accomplished championships, but knowing there are detractors out there over any number of things (the old not-dominant argument) this team wants to leave its mark.

Pure Professionalism A veteran team that buys into the system and simply wants to execute on every play. They are good and so they keep scoring, even late in games.

Humble Pie This one has not really been talked about, and I think it is related to the last point. Recall from the Browns game, they scored a pick six late, after having tried and failed to reach the endzone on a 4th and goal. I really think that series was calculated by Belichick as a way to motivate. Even if they had scored, he could say "Don't get too high on yourself, you had trouble scoring against a .500 team with nothing to play for, already down by 10 with 2 minutes left. What makes you think you can score when you need it to win against a playoff team?"

Arguably, any of these would be reasons why they would try to win a game at the end of the season to stay undefeated.

[Semtex]

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The Patriots are not going undefeated because their second strings are going to play against the Giants fighting for playoff position in week 17.

[/ QUOTE ]

Previously I agreed with that assessment - that the Pats will have no incentive late in the year and therefore drop one.

Now, I'm not so sure. And it's related to the topic of this thread.

There's any number of reasons why this team is piling it on their opponents this year:

Win This Game The other team isn't going to stop scoring, so it makes sense to score on every opportunity (which has been stated well here by many).

The Middle Finger Hypothesis Some sort of "us against the world" pathos driving them to rub it in.

Legacy Already accomplished championships, but knowing there are detractors out there over any number of things (the old not-dominant argument) this team wants to leave its mark.

Pure Professionalism A veteran team that buys into the system and simply wants to execute on every play. They are good and so they keep scoring, even late in games.

Humble Pie This one has not really been talked about, and I think it is related to the last point. Recall from the Browns game, they scored a pick six late, after having tried and failed to reach the endzone on a 4th and goal. I really think that series was calculated by Belichick as a way to motivate. Even if they had scored, he could say "Don't get too high on yourself, you had trouble scoring against a .500 team with nothing to play for, already down by 10 with 2 minutes left. What makes you think you can score when you need it to win against a playoff team?"

Arguably, any of these would be reasons why they would try to win a game at the end of the season to stay undefeated.

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Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I think whether this has been the F-U season will be answered by whether Belichick benches the starters for those games (I love how its a given that they will have their playoff picture locked up). There has been a measure of perfection that he has been striving towards but I'm not sure it will apply to meaningless games at the end of the regular season as opposed to the playoffs and super bowl.

[Salva135]

Gregg Easterbrook chimes in with more anti-Pats venom in yet another completely over-the-top column:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...p;sportCat=nfl

I haven't heard one coach or commentator argue that the Pats are purposely running up the score to humiliate each and everyone of their opponents to the extent Easterbrook thinks they are. His facts on the Dallas situation are wrong, and his seething hatred for every single thing the Patriots have done is almost mind-boggling in its intensity. Just wow.

[SatisfiedFool]

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Gregg Easterbrook chimes in with more anti-Pats venom in yet another completely over-the-top column:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...p;sportCat=nfl

I haven't heard one coach or commentator argue that the Pats are purposely running up the score to humiliate each and everyone of their opponents to the extent Easterbrook thinks they are. His facts on the Dallas situation are wrong, and his seething hatred for every single thing the Patriots have done is almost mind-boggling in its intensity. Just wow.

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Hahahah that is awesome. If I tried writing a satirical article about the negative points of the Pariots I couldn't do a better job. That guy is nuts.

I especially like him hating on Belichick for being cold and angry towards players and the press. Like all coaches are happy-go lucky easy-going fellas. Omg Belichick doesn't outwardly seem over the moon when he wins - IZ HIS MIDDLE NAME DAMIAN OR SUMTHIN???

[dknightx]

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Gregg Easterbrook chimes in with more anti-Pats venom in yet another completely over-the-top column:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...p;sportCat=nfl

I haven't heard one coach or commentator argue that the Pats are purposely running up the score to humiliate each and everyone of their opponents to the extent Easterbrook thinks they are. His facts on the Dallas situation are wrong, and his seething hatred for every single thing the Patriots have done is almost mind-boggling in its intensity. Just wow.

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bill simmons, an avid pats fan, thinks they are running up the score for a similar reason?