As mentioned, they'll have to
lose a lot of games for anyone to shut up. The more they win, the more hate they will get.
It's the excuse for every past and future loss to this team.
Don't see how anybody can attribute future losses to the Pats on this. They're going to be the most closely scrutinized team for the next two years, at least.
I think what bothers people is that beyond the distraction this will cause for the Sunday game (and like I said, I think the Chargers are going to win), the Patriots are still a damn good team. The footage from the first quarter didn't help Ellis Hobbs set a record or help Randy Moss toy around with rookies that are five inches shorter than him.
Punishment is coming, maybe it includes a suspension, maybe it doesn't. They're still going to win at least ten games this season, so unless the bottom half of the AFC shapes up, they're going to be in the playoffs. People want them to suck, but it's going to take injuries in line with what happened in 2005 for that to happen. Of course they've not got a target on their foreheads, so maybe that will end up happening.