http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/10/30/favre/1.html
ARE PATS RUNNING UP THE SCORE? From Tom of Mount Laurel, N.J.: "Why no talk about the total lack of class on display by Bill Belichick in running up the score week after week? Everyone knows how good the Pats are but don't you have to worry that some player on some team is going to get fed up with them and cheap shot one of their stars late in a 38-0 blowout? How would Belichick explain it if Tom Brady took a very late hit while he was going for it on 4th-and-1 from inside the opponent's 10 with a 38-0 lead?
So you're asking me whether a team going for it on fourth down with 11 minutes left in the game, up 38-0, is running up the score? I think you have answered your own question. But -- and this is a very big but -- I truly believe that if the Patriots had gone for a field goal, and made it 41-0, the outcry would be the same today as it is for going for the touchdown. Nobody wants to admit that, but it's true.
I also think Tom Brady shouldn't have even started the drive late in the third quarter with the Patriots up 38-0. A six-score game with 17 minutes to go is no time to have the MVP of the NFL in the game.