The "new" allegations: Stealing playcall sheets and screwing with communications.

[Delicate Genius]

The article included information from Matt Walsh, the disgruntled employee that was fired by the Patriots and outed as an unreliable jackass back in 2008. Solid reporting.

Give me a job where I can cite unnamed sources and try to pull the wool over my readers' eyes. Anyone with a lick of common sense can see how absurd some of these "allegations" are. Not only would Belichick and the Pats have to be three steps ahead of everyone, but every other team in the league would have to be blind, deaf, and stupid for some of this stuff to occur. Serial stealers of playcall sheets, yet no one decided to notify the league, leak this to the media earlier, or catch the Patriots in the act?

 

[DaBruinz]

That is one aspect I hadn't thought of. During games, NFL Security Personnel are at the locker-rooms to ensure that no one goes in there that doesn't belong there. So, if the Patriots low level staffers were "stealing play-sheets" why wouldn't the NFL Security personnel have apprehended them before now?

This is the best line from the entire article:

and not a single NFL team was capable of designing a simple defensive scheme to catch a bumbling play-sheet theft ring … yet we must apparently believe the same genius coaches came up with actual defensive schemes that would've worked if not for that cheating Bill Belichick.

 

[TBR]

I skimmed through that joke of an article pretty quickly, to be honest... but didn't they just magnify petty details from spygate that have been known for YEARS? Then they threw in the "new allegations" aka totally baseless, unproven, whiny ******** they pulled from thin air and added "via unnamed/anonymous sources"?

 

[scott99]

I hear that Trump may be available in 9 years.

Trump will be available in early November 2016.

 

[scott99]

Proof or GTFO . . . Out of curiosity, who is this hooker, I mean "ace reporter" you're referring to? I don't read ESPN

Bingo. The NFL couldn't prove any Patriot did anything wrong after spending 5 million on a Report about Deflategate. I'm supposed believe an unsubstantiated ARTICLE from ESPN ? ESPN ? Puhlease.

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

Few days ago I challenged the NFL and Hatriots to come up with stuff like this that can be proven.

The timing stinks - why wasn't it published back during SpyGate?

The behavior of the "Conduct Commisioner" is suspicious - he plays politics dirtier than his Dad.

 

[Patstopia]

If these ball less bastards cant come out on the record with proof, why are they even quoted? Anyone can say anything about anyone, but without proof if is hearsay and nothing about it is truthful.
To write an article that is based in hearsay and innuendo with no actual facts or witnesses, is just malice! And to do it on a subject that has been closed for 8 years is absolutely inane!

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

I'm happy my new business is booming.

Is Belichick stealing your brain thoughts?

Did you know Ernie Adams is under your bed when your not looking?

Buy the Belliblocker, 100% proven Patriot proof. Klingon approved.
MSRP $199.95

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I'm happy my new business is booming.

Is Belichick stealing your brain thoughts?

Did you know Ernie Adams is under your bed when your not looking.

Buy the Belliblocker, 100% proven Patriot proof. Klingon approved.
MSRP $199.95

That's pretty cool. I'd love to see a tinfoil football helmet. Preferably with 31 logos on it.....

 

[reflexblue]

If these ball less bastards cant come out on the record with proof, why are they even quoted? Anyone can say anything about anyone, but without proof if is hearsay and nothing about it is truthful.
To write an article that is based in hearsay and innuendo with no actual facts or witnesses, is just malice! And to do it on a subject that has been closed for 8 years is absolutely inane!

Most likely the ball less bastards don't exist, and never existed.

 

[Rob0729]

The funny thing is anyone who watch Patriots games know that the Pats' defense is usually in a vanilla defense on the opposing team's opening drive so that Belichick and Patricia can try to figure out what the opposing team's offense is going to do. And now people are saying the Pats usually have the opposing team's first 15-20 plays because they steal the opening drive scripts?!?

Why in the world would the Pats play in a soft vanilla defense on the opposing team's opening drive if they knew the opposing team's opening script? If you look at the Pats' defense, they almost always let the opposing team drive down the field on the first drive and then tightens up after that.

 

[raduray]

The reporter is internationally renowned and has won two Pullitzer prizes. It be foolish to just dismiss him.

Well known and previously respected journalists have been known to screw up. Judith Miller comes to mind, with significantly more consequential results. The ESPN article is filled with unsourced rumors and innuendo which is impossible to counter directly.

 

[JMC00]

Dolphins steal our line calls and brag about it = Savvy play
Patriots rumored to have stolen playsheets = Obviously guilty, BB and Brady sentenced to be raped for eternity by giant cat ****s

 

[SVN]

I believe that some people said the stuff that's being attributed to "anonymous sources". I'd also bet that the stuff being attributed to anonymous source came from people who weren't willing to attach their name to anything because a) they're nobodies and/or b) what they're saying isn't true.

If you talk to a former Patriots coach and he says Ernie Adams was an idiot, then you later talk to an unnamed former player who says he's sure the Pats bugged their locker room because how else could they know what plays were coming, it's pretty easy to write a story where you have a bunch of anonymous sources--which include former Pats coaches--who have accused the Pats of bugging opposing locker rooms.

However renowned the reporter is, today's OTL piece read like something that belongs in the Rolling Stone. And that is not a compliment. Just look at how the Marshall-Faulk-as-KR thing was framed up. Because the Patriots kicked the ball near the sideline and "forced" Faulk out of bounds on his kickoff return, this demonstrates that they must have cheated to develop this bold, incredible strategy for neutralizing him as a returner. Let's look at all the ways this is wrong:

1. It assumes that the Pats must have known in advance that Faulk would line up as KR.
2. It assumes that the strategy in place was specifically planned for Faulk. There's no reason to believe that.
3. It assumes that Belichick couldn't have a general strategy for "how to handle unexpected substitutions at KR". Knowing Belichick as well as we do, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has a few wrinkles that he likes to throw out at any player who's being lined up at KR without being accustomed to that role. Kicking the ball near the sidelines and seeing if he runs out of bounds rather than taking the free 40 yards seems like a good one. No KR who knows what he's doing would field that ball, but a RB who has no idea what he's doing might.
4. It assumes that they somehow forced Faulk to run out of bounds. Sounds like Faulk just sucked at being a KR, because if it's so close he could easily just let the ball roll out of bounds and get the ball at the 40. It's impossible to "pin" a KR with an OOB kick.

If anything, this sequence of events is a great example of the Rams ****ing up a very simple thing and failing to capitalize on an opportunity. Instead, it's written in this article as evidence that the Pats must be cheaters because they actually plan ahead.

In any case, I'm officially at the point that, if suspicion or innuendo is sourced to an unnamed person, I refuse to assume there's any truth to it. It's as likely as not that either the source is made up or the source is making stuff up. Real journalists sometimes get this. Sports journalists almost never do.

Just makes me angry even reading this stuff about Faulk. how dumb can anyone be to even write this.

 

[Wordsmyth]

The reporter is internationally renowned and has won two Pullitzer prizes. It be foolish to just dismiss him.

Nice appeal to authority.

 

[Koma]

The funny thing is anyone who watch Patriots games know that the Pats' defense is usually in a vanilla defense on the opposing team's opening drive so that Belichick and Patricia can try to figure out what the opposing team's offense is going to do. And now people are saying the Pats usually have the opposing team's first 15-20 plays because they steal the opening drive scripts?!?

Why in the world would the Pats play in a soft vanilla defense on the opposing team's opening drive if they knew the opposing team's opening script? If you look at the Pats' defense, they almost always let the opposing team drive down the field on the first drive and then tightens up after that.

How often do posts like this appear in the 1st quarter of the game threads (following a long completion or "easy" scoring drive by the opposition): "I guess we're not playing defense today" or " This bend-but-don't-break approach is killing me."

I can't imagine how bad they would be if the posters knew that the Patriots defense knew exactly what plays were coming.

 

[Zeus]

The funny thing is anyone who watch Patriots games know that the Pats' defense is usually in a vanilla defense on the opposing team's opening drive so that Belichick and Patricia can try to figure out what the opposing team's offense is going to do. And now people are saying the Pats usually have the opposing team's first 15-20 plays because they steal the opening drive scripts?!?

Why in the world would the Pats play in a soft vanilla defense on the opposing team's opening drive if they knew the opposing team's opening script? If you look at the Pats' defense, they almost always let the opposing team drive down the field on the first drive and then tightens up after that.

Couldn't agree more. I'm pretty consistently tearing my hair out during the opposition's first drive.

 

[VectorPrime]

Nice appeal to authority.

I didn't say to take his word as gospel. Just not to disregard him as some hack ESPN mouth piece, because he isn't.

 

[Deus Irae]

I didn't say to take his word as gospel. Just not to disregard him as some hack ESPN mouth piece, because he isn't.

That's exactly what he is, though, in this instance.

 

[supafly]

I'm going to admit that I'm not remotely shook by these new (0ld) allegations.

All they did was continue on the rumors that have been going around for years. It's not like it's a league investigation, and even if it were--they aren't going to find anything now. I'm pretty sure that we should be used to hearing about jammed signals, etc by now.

Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather read about something else, but in the big picture this is nothing. Just my opinion.