Bill Simmons Nails It

[FloridaPatsFan]

Nailed it alright. This is how I've felt all week. I've never been more pissed about a win in my life. The refs were horrific and truthfully it downright scared me to think this could happen again. I could understand 1 or 2 bad calls in a game but nothing like this.

And to top it all off we had all the apologists claiming moral victory,these guys can hang with us,injuries,they outplayed us for 3 and 1/2 quarters. My ass they did. The only thing they did was apply pressure and slow down our scoring.

If this game was called correctly our defense would of came out like f----ing heroes. Our defense was awesome Sunday and because of these lame duck penalties it has fools claiming our defense was a weakness.

We may have won the game and overcame those officials and for that it was a gratifying win. But other than that,I'm still p'od and I'm with Bill Simmons in all things Patriot's. EFFF emmm!!!! Kill them all and let God sort out the rest!!!

In last years AFCCG...I believe the refs were calling the game OK for the most part in the 1st half (until the last few minutes)....and we were litterally destroying them. But from the point that when we got up 21-3, the way the game was called from that point on was outrageous. It was blatant how much they were calling the game to get the Colts back in the game. The refs changed the outcome of that game.

Fast forward to last week and it was the same thing all over again. I mean, we are for the most part, knowledgeable football fans. We have watched a ton of NFL games and can tell what is a penalty and what is not.

When the TV announcers are even saying that they are confused to what the penalty was or disagree with the call (something they are supposed to refrain from doing), also says a lot about how bad we have been getting screwed by the refs.

 

[smg93]

Thank you Bill Simmons for coming up with an article that I have been wanting to write but haven't because of a lack of talent!

 

[psychoPat]

Indy Angels

.... the Steelers overcame the leagues attempt to tilt the game the Indy Angels way.

Indianapolis Angels ... that's cool.

And fits in more places than
the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

 

[Disco Volante]

Awesome article.

Nobody outside of Boston made a big deal about the officiating because the Patriots prevailed. And besides, everyone was more interested in making excuses for the Colts (which reminds me, you can play the "Indy really missed Marvin Harrison card" so long as you also mention all the key guys New England was missing in the AFC Championship Game last January) and taking solace in the closeness of the game (giving everyone hope that New England's 19-0 season isn't a foregone conclusion). Few noticed the Patriots needed just nine minutes of quality football to defeat an undefeated Super Bowl champion on the road, or that they pulled off the comeback despite having 95 percent of the borderline calls go against them.

What I've been thinking all week. Instead of praising us and talking about the officiating. It's all been "Oh boy it was so close, can't wait for round 2 when the Colts have everyone ready'.

Makes me sick. More so sick then reading such dumb comments on the ESPN boards such as...

Tom Brady is on pace to shatter every season passing record. Yet despite the fact that defenses continuously playing prevent, the Patriots ground game has been inconsistent and lackluster.

Next, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth, at best, are decent wide receivers. The simple fact that defenses have to commit half a secondary to one guy has made these guys look better than average.

If you remove Moss, you have an offense with no running game, a lack of stretching the field, and Wes Welker & Donte Stallworth being shut down on man-to-man coverage by #1/2 corners. What does that give you? Tom Brady regressing to his 25 TD/3000 yard passing seasons, and a Patriots team that at best is 7-2 up to this point.

Give that team a motivated Randy Moss, and you have a 9-0 Patriots squad that is considered by many to be the greatest squad after 9 weeks of football in the history of the sport.

Randy Moss is the most valuable player in this league. Sadly, he won't get it.

Also makes me sick.

 

[groundgame]

You guys think that maybe Bill would be better off focusing his time on his newborn, then slamming a remote into their wall at 95mph, and going off on a 5 page rant after winning?

Would you consider changing your screen name to: PatsFanForeverTroll ?
No hard feelings, but at least it won't be misleading.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

All you conspiracy theorist realise that Goodell and Kraft are best friends, right? Come on, don't be so dumb. If anything, he wants to see the Pats win.

Uh they are NOT best friends. Had you an ounce of knowhow, you'd know that Kraft's candidate from Concord MA didn't make the finals.

 

[psychoPat]

.... Had you an ounce of knowhow, you'd know that Kraft's candidate from Concord MA didn't make the finals.

Gee, i've got an ounce.
But i didn't know that.

Maybe i need a pound ... or a kilo.

 

[Ootball]

"It'a a Patriots thing...you wouldn't understand."

Might be a good t-shirt for you guys. I really DON'T understand. I don't understand how a team that has already been dominating this decade breaks the rules to gain even more advantage over other teams, gets caught, gets punished for a rules violation...and then suddenly it's the guys who caught them, and who punished them, and the rest of the NFL who have "done them wrong."

Simmons' article, and the "eff the world" attitude that has come to characterize the Patriots fan base this year, looks from an outsider's perspective like little more than a psychological projection of guilt.

Face it: you'd hate it if you found out that, say, the Colts were filming the sidelines in the AFCCG last year, and would love BB if he called them on it. And you would probably think a $500K fine & loss of draft pick was too light.

I know I'll get killed for this, but that's just how it is. Have at it.

 

[fair catch fryar]

(Note: Watch NFL Network's replay of the game for the split-screen explanation by Mike Pereira, NFL vice president of officiating, who claims Hobbs impeded Wayne's path to the ball and initiated contact before turning around to find the football. Only one problem ... as Pereira is telling us this, the split-screen replay shows Hobbs turning around before there was any contact. It's an incredible 10 seconds of TV. I wish we could hire Pereira to describe other things that allegedly didn't happen while we show videotape to prove the opposite was true. "As this tape by Rick Salomon proves, Paris Hilton has never had sex with someone on camera ...")

LOL

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/071109&sportCat=nfl

Interesting comparison when he talks about the movie, "Victory" and the Nazi's. I can't help but think how this photo is eerily similar to the looks of another maniacal, psychotic despot that once tried to take over the world only to be vanquished by a country of Patriots!

 

[RhodyPatriot]

That may be the dumbest statement ever. You guys were flat embarrassed in the 2nd half of the AFC title game. Do you even realise that everyone outside of the Boston area thought the refs not only called a fair game, but if anything the calls were going against Indy?

Is that why Ellis Hobbs got a written letter of apology from the league office for their blown PI call in that game? It's funny but for some reason the phrase "we were wrong" has been surgically removed from NFL Ref boss Mike Pereira's verbal arsenal this season.
It's not helping the league's image either.
Don't think we were flat embarrassed as much as the defense was flat out of gas and out of healthy bodies in the second half of that game.
IndyJoe, what you need to be very concerned about is why your Colt defense was out of gas in the second half of your EIGHTH game this season.
What is up with that?
Freeney and Mathis needed a blow on every other play in the seond half and Sanders was exposed for the overrated gnat that he is.
Dude, why was your defense OUT OF GAS in game #8 and after you had your bye two weeks earlier??
Wattup??

 

[Stratos]

Dude, why was your defense OUT OF GAS in game #8 and after you had your bye two weeks earlier??
Wattup??

No quality backups to spell the defense. Everyone was injured. But did they did pick up a couple of ex-players delivering beer to help out.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Call me crazy, but you'd almost think that this lack of quality backups is going to create progressively more trouble as the season goes on.

(I wonder what they'll do when Bob Sanders inevitably goes down).

 

[Stratos]

(I wonder what they'll do when Bob Sanders inevitably goes down).

Did you not see last year....
I would assume that would be a good gauge, wouldn't it

Also, I believe the backups were playing, so that would be the backups to the backups where not of any great talent.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Did you not see last year....
I would assume that would be a good gauge, wouldn't it

It was a leading question. The answer is pretty obvious: they'll suck.

 

[Stratos]

It was a leading question. The answer is pretty obvious: they'll suck.

I don't know about sucking, but they obviously will not be as good. They did win the Superbowl, so all was not lost.

 

[bradmahn]

No doubt.


I wonder if he would've beat his kid if they had actually lost.

Why do Colts fans feel the need to attack the personal lives of players, coaches, and reporters they root against or disagree with.

I also find it ironic that Colts fans are attacking someone for perceived neglect of their families, as terrible of a situation that may be.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I don't know about sucking, but they obviously will not be as good. They did win the Superbowl, so all was not lost.

Last year, they spent the bulk of the regular season boasting a historically bad rush defense. Luckily, the return of Sanders went a long way towards shoring it up in time for the playoffs. Prior to that, though, nobody took them seriously because they couldn't stop the run worth a damn.

Was Sanders the sole cause of the improvement? Probably not. He was certainly the main one, but it's foolish to think that one player can totally change an entire team's fortunes like that. It can't be a coincidence though, and this year's front 7 doesn't seem to be radically better than last year's.

 

[Lansdowne]

This game definitely made me paranoid. That was some shady officiating, and it makes me wonder if we're in store for more of that the rest of the way.

 

[Arrrr]

It's a good thing that Patriots fans have never had calls go mostly their way before, otherwise I'd think they were being whiny douchefags.

 

[bradmahn]

Hey, I got 2 pm's saying that they hope my family burns up in a car crash, and dies a horrible death.

Did Bill Simmons send you those PMs? How about Belichick? Bruschi? If you have an issue with a fan on these messageboards sending you PMs like the ones you mention (which is absolutely disgusting and you have every right to be upset with those people) report them. There is no reason for you to assume that Bill Simmons is a bad parent because he is 1) a passionate fan and 2) a sportswriter doing his job and writing about "the biggest game of the century."