Now Skip Bayless Must Retract A Well-Worn Libel

[RobertWeathers]

Was that the "9 carries, 8 yards" game from Bettis?

Way to show up, Hall of Famer.

Oh yeah, and as far as Hines Ward:

Dirty, cheap-shotting POS.

In fairness to Bettis he was really banged up in that 2001 AFCCG. I remember him being questionable b/c the doctor screwed up the cortizone shot and numbed his knee. He was running out there with a numb leg.

Overall, the Pats have always done a decent job vs Bettis. Hes never "killed them" per se.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Here's how dumb Hines Ward is on this topic:

The 2001 Steelers were the #1 rushing offense in the league.

In the divisional round, the Steelers beat the Ravens. They ran the ball 49 times for 154 yards. They attempted 22 passes.

Against the Patriots in the AFCCG, they ran 22 times for 58 yards and attempted 42 passes. This was with Jerome Bettis returning from injury.

How would the Patriots know the Steelers were going to go away from their running game? (You can see the play by play here. Stewart was throwing a lot early in the game, not just when Pittsburgh fell behind.) How would they "steal" signals sent in via radio to the QB? And how would they manage this in Pittsburgh's stadium? I don't think the Steelers would be so accommodating as to provide the Patriots a room to set up their decoding equipment.

Also, in terms of learning signals from previous games, the last time the Patriots played the Steelers before the 2001 AFCCG was in 1998, when Pete Carroll was head coach. The last time Belichick faced the Steelers was in 1995, when he was in Cleveland. It defies belief to think that the Steelers used the exact same signals for years, even though they went through different coordinators.

It's hard to believe Ward gets a pass on his whining and excuse making.

BB was also Assistant HC on the 1996 Pats which played Pitt in the playoffs.

 

[realtime]

Here's how dumb Hines Ward is on this topic:

How would the Patriots know the Steelers were going to go away from their running game? (You can see the play by play here. Stewart was throwing a lot early in the game, not just when Pittsburgh fell behind.) How would they "steal" signals sent in via radio to the QB? And how would they manage this in Pittsburgh's stadium?

Keep in mind that to many people, these type of questions do not exonerate the Patriots, but rather confirm that they were videotaping the Steelers' (and other teams') pre-game walk-throughs.

 

[patfanken]

So, I guess that ESPN hasn't gotten to Skip about his libelous comments. Not only that, ESPN seems to have trolled the depths of whiners, complainers, and people unable to comprehend the results of better preparation, to continue the all out assault on the Patriots brand . We'll just have to add them to the list of defendant to the defamation suit.

Seriously, you have to admire the NFL office for their skilled PR attack. After watching their case against Brady falter and die once it was exposed to the light; they have altered that attack to continue the myth that by playing well the Pats MUST be doing "something" wrong all the time. So even though we can't prove the Pats were deflating balls THIS time, the punishment was justified because its evident they are always cheating.

So by having their proxy, ESPN, continually slip in these minor (in and of themselves) libelous unproven comments, they reinforce the myth that the only reason the Pats have been so successful is by cheating. Ergo they would like to portray Roger Goodell as being like Eliot Ness trying to bring down Al Capone. Just because he didn't get enough evidence to send him away THIS time, it doesn't mean that Capone isn't a criminal.

In other words - Roger Goodell - "good guy". " The protector of the Shield against the darkness of the Patriots." And unfortunately it seems to be working.