http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/patriots/
this is getting a ridiculous amount of coverage
this is getting a ridiculous amount of coverage
Coaches weigh in on piling on
Posted by John Tomase at 4:32 pm
A number of NFL coaches have appeared on Sirius NFL radio recently and offered their thoughts on whether the Patriots are running up the score. Here’s a sampling:
John Fox, Carolina Panthers: “Typically in this league when you have the game in hand you do call off the dogs a little bit but not to the point where you could lose the game. You never can relax too much.”
Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars: “You play to win. If you can score, score. Your job, as a defense, as an opponent, is to slow them down. Offensively you want to score. Obviously, late in the fourth quarter you’re going to make sure your starters don’t get hurt and things like that going forward but you still keep playing football.”
Herm Edwards, Kansas City Chiefs: “I just think that obviously [the Patriots] are going at a pace right now, they’re just playing. They’re having fun playing football. You’re caught in a bad situation there when you have a lead like that. All coaches have been in that situation. Sometimes you’ve been the guy that had the lead and sometimes you’ve been the guy on the other side of it. And that’s what’s great about athletics. People always look into things, trying to figure out is there something that he’s trying to do or say. The coach that is winning, does he run the ball on fourth down or does he pass the ball on fourth down? I don’t know what to tell you. It’s just one of those deals. There’s a lot being made out of things and at the end I think the thing you’ve got to realize is this. You’ve got a team that is playing very very good, setting all kinds of record. When I watch those guys play, they’re having fun. They’re just having fun playing football.”
Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings: “You’re talking about the Washington Redskins and one of the highest paid coaches in the National Football League and a staff full of head coaches and they’re coaching, too. Games can get left-handed like that, unfortunately, and New England has a way of making you be left-handed.”
Lane Kiffin, Oakland Raiders: “Coach Gibbs, I believe, said he had no issues with it. It’s so hard to win and so hard to score I don’t think that there really is running up the score. You’re just playing your players and trying to get better. In this league your backups do have so few opportunities to play that, from my perspective, if we were ever in that situation we would definitely run plays and put in some of our younger guys that otherwise don’t play.”
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers: “We’re responsible for keeping their score down. They aren’t. That’s just being competitive. That’s what this game is about. That’s what any game is about. I have no comment or opposition to them ringing up as many points as they’re capable of.”