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Some would call this Karma for a team caught cheating on one occasion, and accused on several more. I call it a deserved ass kicking. The Patriots got found out, and were outlasted by a team that made fewer mistakes and was just as talented on defense as they were on offense. And in typical Patriot fashion, the classlessness was evident:

If he’s going to lose, Bill Belichick would rather be elsewhere

By MJD

Sunday, Feb 3, 2008 11:12 pm EST

On more than one occasion this year, Bill Belichick and the Patriots have run up the score on an overmatched opponent, and forced an opposing coach to sit there and watch his beaten team go through the motions while their heineys were being handed to them.

But when the shoe’s on the other foot, and Bill Belichick’s team has been beaten, he can’t sit there and take the pain for a few seconds.

With :02 left on the clock, and his team just having failed on a last chance 4th down effort, Bill Belichick ran onto the field for a quick handshake, and then bolted for the locker room. Belichick’s an important guy and everything, but I wasn’t aware that the league had given him the authority to decide when games end.

There’s time left on the clock, his team’s been humbled, outplayed, and lost their chance at history … and Bill Belichick doesn’t have the stomach to sit there and absorb the pain until the clock read 0:00.

That’s unsportsmanlike at best, disrespectful at least, and at worst, it makes him a big sissy.

There’ll be lots of time to hate on Bill Bellyache tomorrow. Today is for celebrating the 72 Dolphins - STILL the only undefeated championship team in the history of the NFL. Preach on, Merc! Oh yeah - and the Giants won too.

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The wind was making it hard to throw to the edges and Moss was being blanketed. But that didn’t stop the Patriots from finding other guys like Faulk and Moroney to put the gimpy Chargers out of their misery and come one step closer to making Mercury Morris eat his words.

The Chargers were too inept on offense - settling for too many FGs, and too vanilla on defense. That’s not the way to beat the Patriots. What they should have done, and what I’d like to see in the Super Bowl, is for them to be defended with a 1 or 2 man line. Line up in a typical 4-man front with 1-2 blitzers threatening, then at the snap, drop off into coverage to clog the passing lanes. And when you rush the 2 guys, rush them from the same spot overloaded on one side. Remember the Pats did that to the Colts’ pass-happy offense to great effect a few years ago? Now it’s the Patriots that have the pass happy offense.

Honestly, you will not beat the Pats playing straight up D. You have to gamble and guess, morph and disguise. Otherwise Brady will always know what he’s looking at and always find a Faulk open - who looked like he was just finding the open space in the zone. Norv (or rather Ted Cottrell) simply got outcoached. It’s ok - only 2 or 3 teams really were an equal match coaching and strategy wise all season.

The worse scenario for the Pats today was having to play the Giants. They are now the hottest team not named the Patriots. The Chargers were crippled and they didn’t get creative. The Packers played well, but just not well enough. Eli Manning (not Peyton) played well down the stretch and and will be rewarded with a spot in the Super Bowl. Scotsman Lawrence Tynes overcame 2 missed kicks to end the game in overtime with a game winning kick.

But here’s what I like about this most. Tiki Barber is left to stew over the fact that he left an average team and they became a great team all the while fending off his barbs (pun intended) about Eli not being a good QB. Thats called the Ewing Theory, buddy. A high profile player leaves an underachieving team and they suddenly rally and achieve something. And since there are no more games on NBC Tiki won’t have to answer to it.

Well, I guess you could say the same thing about the Giants going on a run after Jeremy Shockey’s injury, but since he’s from The U I’ll leave him alone.

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