Letters to the Editor
kevred
Published Letters: 92 Editor's Choice: 8
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The Patriots aren't that special. No, really.
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Alright, let me be one of the few to say that. And mean it. The Pats are incredibly, cleverly well-coached, talented at most every position, and are running up the score (and, by keeping in their starters so long, their personal stats) on weaker opponents, displaying poor sportsmanship, and taking advantage of their relatively easy position to create a larger-than-reality persona.
It starts with a pretty weak schedule. So far, they've played mostly weak, losing teams. They're in the weakest division in football, so half of their schedule is a cakewalk. The Cowboys, who can be streaky and vulnerable, kept up with them just fine for three quarters, and apart from that the Pats haven't played any serious, mature opponents. Then you have teams like the Redskins last week, who made a lot of bad, baffling decisions.
What they've chosen to do with that opportunity is to create a new mystique. Belichek knows that after getting their hats handed to them by the Colts and Chargers last year, his team lost its aura of invulnerability, something they always worked to their advantage. To get it back, he's taken the gloves off and gone for broke, and it's worked like gangbusters. By running up the score and rubbing it in, the Pats are now feared again--oh no, they're coming here, are they going to do that to us? Once again, they have that psychological weapon back in their arsenal.
It's like a schoolyard bully. If he just pushes the weak little kid over, no one takes much notice. But if he pushes him over, punches him 'til he's unconscious, and then breaks his arm, suddenly everyone fears the bully. He's not any stronger or more capable than if he'd restrained himself, it's just that he's choosing to do worse things, and that has an effect on people.
If that's the kind of respect the Pats want, it's pretty sad. They've traded in their Mercedes for a Hummer, and it doesn't make me respect them.
But, just like driving a Hummer, it's also about compensating for and distracting from weakness, vulnerability. The Pats are a strong team, but they're only human. They have a fantastic game plan, but it's not transcendant or magical, it's just a plan. Anyone who's been paying attention knows there's a growing body of analysis this season on the Pats approach to play, breaking it down, finding patterns, making sense out of it (a recent TMQ column on ESPN is a good example). The Pats are damned hard to catch, but Belichek knows they can be caught, and he's going to use every distraction from that fact to keep other teams at bay.
Of course, understanding them and countering them are two different things, and to do the latter would take an incredible amount of work and sharp persistence during a game. But a smart, balanced team can do it.
Now, compare this to the Colts, a team with a much tougher schedule in one of the best divisions in football. They've played tougher teams and will do so the rest of the way. A 12-4 Colts would impress me more than a 16-0 Pats, because they will have worked harder for it and earned it more, in my opinion.
When the Pats drive hard for meaningless late scores against weak teams and then celebrate as though they're in a playoff game, they're nothing more than the crass preppies from every formulaic 80s movie. You know, the ones that good people are supposed to dislike.
So if that's what you want to root for, go ahead. I'll stick with my scrappy Colts, Cowboys, Packers, and all the rest that I can support and still feel good about. The Pats can be as undefeated as they want to, and they'll impress me, but I won't respect them. Winning isn't everything.