Pneumonic

Nah, I think Rice should lose points because he played with the greatest QB ever.

I don't follow college ball at all and so never get into the draft whatsoever. This will serve as a good reference for me. Thanks for posting this.

So, did ..... ..... Joe Montana make Bill Walsh because ... Walsh never won a SB without Montana? ..... Terry Bradshaw make Chuck Noll because ... Noll never won a SB without Bradshaw? ..... Roger Staubach make Tom Landry because ... Landry never won a SB without Staubach? ..... Bob Griese make Don Shula because ... Shula never won a SB without Griese? ..... Bart Starr make Vince Lombardi because ... Lombardi never won a SB or championship without Starr? ..... Otto Graham make Paul Brown because ... Brown never won a championship without Graham?

So, what? You are arguing on the strength of a couple of hypothetical situations! I thought you were a "it is what it is" kinda guy?

Try this on for "it is what it is" In the 14 years that Belichick has been the HC of the Pats his team has been in the AFC championship game 8 times, he has been to the super bowl 5 times and he's won the super bowl 3 times. This all done in an era of football that is designed to prevent such complete and total domination. Now think about this for a sec! If you are blind to this and, instead to choose to bring up other arguments in order to make your point then, my guess is you have a hate so strong for Belichick that nothing he can do will ever change your opinion on him.

Impossible to say for sure since Belichick's never had carte blanche when it comes to assembling a team sans salary cap restriction. However, 1 quick look at some of the truly suspect players that gave Belichick significant reps during his tenure in NE outta make it plainly obvious that said players were only on the roster because his roster was sal cap limited. So much wrong with all of what you say but let's focus on just the above quoted points you make. If all of Belichick's guys suck as you say then doesn't that make what Belichick accomplished (with such lousy people) all the more impressive?

Not old enough to have watched Baugh, Unitas or Graham but of those I have watched my list is as follows: 1. Montana 2. Brady 3. Manning 4. Elway 5. Marino

But never had to deal with a salary cap like Belichick has.

You'll find the ability to cherry pick faults with most of the top HC's. Walsh struggled to win before Montana and never won a SB without him. Noll was 1-13 before Bradshaw and only ever won a SB with him. Furthermore, Noll may well have had the greatest group of players ever assembled onto 1 team at a time. Landry. Lost 2 of every 3 games he coached his first 6 years on the job. Only ever won a SB with Staubach. Shula. Never won a SB without Griese on his team. Lombardi. Never won a SB/championship without Starr. Brown. Never won a championship without Graham. Gibbs is the only one who won SB titles using different QB's. Belichick also has only won a SB title with 1 QB as his guy. However, what differentiates BB from the others is BB won his titles with the constraints of a salary cap and during an era that is meant to result in league wide parity. None of the other HC's mentioned above had to perform under such a restriction. That BB has, over the last 14 seasons while operating under such restriction, directed his team to the AFC championship game 8 times, appeared in the SB 5 times and has come away with 3 Lombardi's is something this league may never see again.

And, far better receivers (than Brady) who are more apt to get open sooner thereby making Manning's (quick release) decisions much simpler and easier to make.

Brady/Manning is like Ferrari/Lambo. Neither is better or worse. However, if I were forced to only pick 1 ..... I'd choose Brady and Ferrari. Especially if it was crunch time.

BB's MO with the Pats has always been one of keeping the players that prioritize the team, and football, over almost anything. Some believe it is this attitude, which he has strongly engrained in his team, that is what separates this franchise from all others in this era of football. If Spikes indeed had priorities, other than to this Patriot team, then it might well have been in BB's best interest to remove Spikes, and his questionable attitude, from the team so as not to jeopardize all that BB has built-up.

I don't like it. I understand it's about business and keeping the fans (of bad teams especially) excited. The expansion accomplishes this. But, from a game perspective, the playoffs should reward those teams which have proven themselves by excelling throughout the year. This seems like nothing more than a do-over for teams that are mediocre and who will water down the product out on the field.

Lori, ICE, Nodnarb, Nervous Guy. Neeraj, George Melino and The Kid from the D&C days.

Been at this a very long time but that may have been the most entertaining weekend of NFL I have watched in some time. Another thing .... this weekend also solidified my strong belief that .... come playoff time .... you win as your QB plays and that in-game adjustments are crucial to playing the following week.

The receiver ends up not catching on a very slight overthrown ball. It is clear that the DB tugs on the shoulder pad of the receiver and disrupts his path to the ball, seemingly enough in the eyes of the ref, that had the PI not occurred, the slight overthrow wouldn't have happened and the receiver would have caught the ball for a TD. This is not ticky tack but a classic PI call.

OK, maybe you need better glasses then. The DB clearly yanks on the receovers left shoulder pad as the receiver is trying to reach up to make the catch. If that's not enough, the DB never bothered to play the football while physically interfering/touching the WR as the play was about to be made. That's clearly PI according to the rules.

Perhaps we saw different replays but the ones I saw the defender clearly tugged on the receiver around the 5-8 yard line. What is open for debate I suppose is if it warranted the tossing of the flag. In any event, Brady was directing the Pats to a TD score regardless.

The defender's grab happened at the 5 or so and not in the EZ as called so that's where the ball should have been placed. If the penalty hadn't been called Brady would have directed them to a score anyhow. All the penalty did was give the Brownies more time to attempt their comeback.

It's just as likely that Belichick's hatred for all things green stems back to 2000 when he refused to babysit the Jets HC job for Parcells and quit on them only to then have his mental health and coaching capability publicly questioned by Jets President Steve Gutman. That this all ended up in Belichick having to also relinquish a mid 1st rounder to the Jets surely didn't help matters any. He's loathed them ever since.

I heard it included some juicy film of other NFL teams, including the Jets, Godell's former employer, filming the Pats sidelines in years prior.

So strict are the rules that teams have been doing it for years prior ..... including the same Jets team that ratted on the Pats.

Sanders was Sayers but with the added ability of getting tackled behind the LOS way too many times. Campbell was a beast and Dickerson was a phenom but the only guy in the same zip code of Brown is Peterson.

Belichick did it because it's not illegal to tape your opposition ..... having been done since before Christ was a cowboy. Kinda hard to fault him for this. Why he continued to tape from the location he did .... he said he mis-interpreted the league's wording on the matter. On this he should be chastised for blatantly going against the words of judge, juror and executioner, Godell. As for not having won a SB title since, this is true. However, keep in mind that they very well could have won 2 more SB titles since if not for having a couple of last minute, miracle, plays go against them. There was no proof of this. Just allegations.

Exiled, surely you don't think Belichick gives two sheeets about what the media or some fans on a Bills forum thinks about them? He could care less about what peoples perception is about his team. All he cares about is winning football games and, since the whole spygate episode, no team in the league has won more football games than have the Pats. If that doesn't prove to the detractors that the Pats can win without the help of sideline videotaping then .......... so be it I suppose.