MattM

The owners benefit from the continued popularity of their League, that would have been destroyed had further evidence of cheating been publicly disclosed. I also strongly suspect that (and the fact that Kraft had a major hand in selecting him--remember that Big Bob was on the selection committee and was one of the initial League mouthpieces introducing Goodell) was the reason Goodell destroyed the tapes before letting anyone see what was on them. Remember that? I also strongly suspect that if you go look up Matt Walsh in a year or three you'll find that he's living in a $2 million house on a local golf pro's salary--just a hunch....

Funny how that journeyman ran for about 130 yards against your mighty D last year in December when you knew he was coming and couldn't do anything to stop him. What does that say about your D? We lost that game, but it certainly had nothing to do with Fred Jackson's running.....

Sorry, but I can't let the bandwagonistas think they've won this argument, especially when they don't even acknowledge opposing points of view and more importantly, facts.....

Funny how you, like a typical Pats* bandwagoneer, complete disregard the rest of the article I quoted--you know, the part where NFL executives basically say that the Pats* have been accused of a ton more than Spygate and how they are really the main/only team that other folks complain to the competition committee about. But then again, I guess that goes against your "everyone does it" theory, no? Or how about the HBO Inside Sports report last spring which literally quoted an unnamed "former offensive star" on those Pats* teams as saying "Of course it helped us immensely--we knew exactly what was coming"? That was about literally the quote--I watched it 3 times on TIVO to make sure. How that didn't get taken and run with by the mainstream media just shows how in the pocket of the League (and the League, of course, is in the pocket of the Pats* and Kraft, as some columnists, like Dr. Z, have stated (although in not so many words, Dr. Z being a polite man)) is. When Marshawn said he was going to get suspended this year, I turned to my wife and said, I'll bet you $1000 that the Bills open the season with the Pats* (and this was well before rumors of such a game leaked) and sure enough...... It's enough to make one sick, it really is.

Those of you who think this will help us are delusional. I'm sure that this will not increase our budget by a single penny. What this WILL do, is let teams like the Pats* and Skins, who are close to the cap and who are owned by owners who basically have Goodell in their pocket, will now be able to spend more on the remaining FA's left. That will be the result here, mark my words.....

Seems like both an intelligent and decent guy, particularly considering he just turned 21 in April. More importantly, did you see the speed he flashed in those clips, especially where he ran the Wisconsin QB down fall the way across the field from the back side and just running by the OT? Incredible. If he really has jets like that in the bigs, we may have a reall Playa here......

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/sports/f...ttee&st=cse This article is about all you need to know about the Pats*-- Some nuggets: "The committee heard accusations that the Patriots had taped opposing coaches’ signals, placed microphones on defensive players to steal quarterbacks’ audible signals and manipulated clocks and coach-to-quarterback radio systems.... [Ask Marinelli and Del Rio about that one--I know both of them complained about radios mysteriously dying in Gillette at odd times.] The N.F.L. team executive said the Patriots were the subject of most of the accusations discussed in the rules committee’s deliberations. The team’s recent success and tight-lipped approach, as personified by Belichick, has played a role. “They were the only team, really,” the executive said. “Clearly, they were the team mentioned far more than anybody else.” Yeah, everybody does it--my arse......

LOL--I literally said to my wife when I heard about the potential Lynch suspension, "I'll bet you $100 that our first game is against the Pats*" and lo and behold. What a shock (not)--I'm just surprised they didn't try to give them a bye before that game to go along with it.....

Much more likely, "Rodney-style", had he gone to the Pats*--I'm not too worried about it with him going to the 'Fins.....

Moved from the upper deck, Row 4 at about the 15 to upper deck, Row 11 at about the 40. First time in 3 years that I've been able to upgrade, FWIW.

Out of curiosity, what was he doing in White Plains? I live in Larchmont here in Westchester myself, but obviously need to get out more!

The negative nancy's have a field day on this board. Our "sack free" defense was ranked 14 last year in yardage, IIRC. That was without it's best DE for most of the year and its best LB for the whole season and, most importantly, playing with our woeful O (remember, the D is just the other side of the O coin--if our O can't stay on the field, our D will get more yardage against it by definition). So, our D that really only lost Greer--who was more than ably replaced by Leodis, Florence and Youboty (also out almost all last year as well)--and is getting back Schoebel and Maybin to the pass rush is going to be worse than last season's slightly better than average D? Most importantly, even bigger strides were made on O, the most important being TO, the new rookie linemen we're all so excited about and last but by no means least, Trent having another full year under his belt. I'd wager that this O, despite losing Peters, Dockery and Royal and Marshawn for 3, is better than last year's. Just a hunch. If it is even slightly better--say moving up 5-6 spots in the rankings, I see no reason why our D can't be Top 10, barring a really bad injury run. Is this team an "elite team" yet? No, I don't think so. But are we a bottom feeding 3-13, 4-12 kind of team as many here seem to think? No, they aren't either.

He*, like the rest of your "team," has an asterisk next to his records, unfortunately. Blame Belichick for that. And before you hop on how he shouldn't have an asterisk, consider the HBO Inside Sports story last spring in which an unnamed "former Patriots star offensive player" who played on some of those teams was quoted as saying "of course it helped us immensely--we knew exactly what the defense was going to do before they did it". I'm personally shocked that no one else ran with that story and I also personally guess that it may have been Antowain Smith or perhaps Deion Branch--clearly someone no longer with the team and a skll position player, since you don't typically call linemen "offensive stars."

Didn't he resign with the Colts last week?

Amen, brother.....

Bill, here's a way it translates to the field, which is what you seem to be focused on (understandably to some of us). Someone with such character and maturity is a heckuva lot more likely to (a) work his arse off to make the most of the God-given football talent that he has, (b) be a smart player on the field and © not do self-destructive things off the field that hurts both himself and his team (are you listening, Mr. Lynch?). All of that is to the positive in terms of getting a better Bills product on the field, and it's just an added bonus that he's actually a decent guy to boot.....

Sounds a lot like Matt Cassel to me--I don't think he can hit the broad side of a barn more than 20 yards from what I saw last year, yet he's being touted as the second coming of Favre......

As someone else noted above, it's nice that the WR spot is finally actually a real strength on this team. Between TO, Evans and Reed and if, and this is a big if, Hardy, Johnson and/or Nelson emerge as a real playmaker to boot, teams are really going to have trouble covering us. We just need to make sure that Trent has the time needed to deliver the pigskin and a major weakness might really become a great strength.

I actually agree with you on Wilfork not being old for his position--DTs do play well into their 30s, as do OL in some cases. Speed is what goes first on athletes, which is why it's RB, WR, LB, DB and DE that you don't want on the wrong side of 30. If I were a Pats* fan, however, and after I contemplated suicide long and hard, I'd personally be worried that Big Vince is going to suffer a career ending knee injury when someone else gives him a Vince Wilfork-style cheap shot--and I'm only half joking about that. I never root for injuries, but he might be one guy I'd consider an exception for.....

I hate the 'Pokes, too, but also hope that everyone is okay after this.....

That link is busted--I got nothing when I clicked on it, but then again, considering the source, I'm not surprised. I agree that your D-line is good--hopefully you'll be able to re-sign both Wilfork and Seymour when they come up as FAs after this year, but somehow I doubt it. As Hobbs said this week, "guys got to get paid"--he's smart enough to realize that the days of playing in NE for below market deals is over since they have no rings to show for it lately. I also agree that your D is getting younger, but since it's with unproven draft picks and second year players, that hardly equates with quality. I was actually laughing at your other post on Crable--he sucked last year before going on IR and is apparently in BB's doghouse for lack of a work ethic (as per your own board). As for Meriweather, it helps when you have a D-line that can actually get pressure, but I'm still not convinced about him myself. My favorite memories of him are watching him get absolutely ripped apart by the Giants in that SB. Unlike you I'm sure (unless you're a masochist, but coming here and hanging out to get beaten on, maybe you are?), I've watched that 4th quarter on TIVO about 20 time and I laugh every time, especially on the Steve Smith catch where Brandon just got faked out of his jock and missed his man, leading to a key first down. And that after 19 games in the League, so I don't want to hear the "he was a rookie excuse"--priceless......

The O-line is the main thing that worries me. All 5 playing new positions and starting two rookies, plus no natural left tackle. If the line plays better than expected, especially early on, this team has a chance. Longer term, other than TO and McGee, I don't think we lose anybody in 2010 and the only "age" concern at that point among probable starters is Schobel, so if we this draft turns out as good as we expect, we get our usual 1-2 quality FA's next year and have a solid 2010 draft, I think this team will be set to make a good run at anyone in the League at that point.....

Great article, Tim. The other thing I noticed is that if you read the reader comments on this one, there were two folks posting who actually are from Maybin's home town and both spoke very highly of him as a person as well. Contrast this, for ex., to a recent article on Ron Paulus, where there were several comments by readers who knew him personally or through local reputation in Syracuse and said he was an arse.....

It's common knowledge that Moss would only rework his deal for the Pats*, hence the Pats* were the only ones who could have made that trade. IIRC, his salary went from something like $8-9 million a year to $3 million. I'm surprised that I, a Bills fan, remember this, but you a Pats* fan do not. Actually, I'm not surprised, since Pats* fans seem to mysteriously blank out on the all the scumbaggy things their team does generally (see numerous examples above, plus others like running up the score in 2008 and then, when karma bit them squarely in the jewels in the Super Bowl, Bill "Good Sport" Belicheat running off the field early before the game was over, I honestly suspect so no one would see him break down in tears after the game, like more than a few Cheatah* fans I'm sure ). Moss bitched and non-hustled his way off the Raiders to the Pats*' benefit. As noted above, one of the benefits of winning by cheating was getting players to come at below market rates. We'll see how much longer that lasts now that the Lombardi's have stopped, and, in my opinion, ain't coming back any time soon.....

That's hysterical--your own article actually names the Pats* as the team accused of doing this and is the only example provided, no other team is mentioned as videotaping opponents' signals! It's also well known that Banks is a Pats* homer; he lives in Boston and follows the Sox, so go figure where his NFL allegiances lie. That's probably where he got the information for this article on cheating--from his Cheatriot sources! He and Peter King (who now also lives in Beantown) knob gobble New England and Belicheat worse than just about anyone to the point it's been known to makes an objective observer physically ill on occasion.