It's been a helluva week for the Jets!

[LivinLovin&Breathin_Brady]

The Jets are done. This is how I got the AFC East playing out.

Patriots - 14-2 [unsure of the d# going against E.Manning at this point]
Bills - 9-7
Jets - 9-7
Dolphins - 5-11

The Jets won't even make the playoffs. The only real competition the Steelers have left on their schedule is the Patriots and Ravens, so they should win the rest of their games except for those two. Baltimore's schedule is just as bad, so they should win the division.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I don't understand why some Patriots fans continue to insist that intentionally breaking the rules is not cheating. It is. The Patriots form of cheating was mild and the Commissioner way overreacted, but it was cheating.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't understand why some Patriots fans continue to insist that intentionally breaking the rules is not cheating. It is. The Patriots form of cheating was mild and the Commissioner way overreacted, but it was cheating.

The Pats did clearly cheat, but the Pats were more punished for ignoring Goodell's specific orders to stop doing this practice than the actual offense itself. If it wasn't for the fact he sent out a memo telling teams to stop it, he wouldn't have given such a severe punishment.

All that said, to think other teams don't cheat is silly. They have as long as the NFL has been around. Many of the infractions over the years were far worse than Spygate, but many were either never proven or swept under the rug by more forgiving commissioners.

 

[everlong]

I think the time has come for a sub forum called Everything Rats related or something of that nature.

 

[bresna]

I don't understand why some Patriots fans continue to insist that intentionally breaking the rules is not cheating. It is. The Patriots form of cheating was mild and the Commissioner way overreacted, but it was cheating.

The act of filming the sidelines was not and is not cheating. It is in the rules that you *can* film the sidelines. The only thing the Patriots did wrong was film in an improper *location*. And for that, they lost a draft pick and got huge fines.

In this Jets incident, if they were filming in a legal spot but were filming something they weren't supposed to film, it should garner the same punishment, if not more. After all, Goodell has gone on record as saying that the reason he was so harsh on the Patriots was to send a message to the rest of the league that there would be serious punishment. Since the Jets appear to have ignored this warning, they should get even more sanctions.

 

[Koma]

The fact that he doesn't want to check the film only shows the hypocritical nature of the the entire "spygate" affair. The league has NEVER outlawed stealing signals, they just limited the means by which you could do it. How if THAT isn't hypocritical, then what is?

The fine and loss of the draft pick was not because the Pats "cheated" it was because they openly and conspicuously flaunted the league memo outlining those limitations. BB knew how hypocritical this was and continued to do so,. just to make that point. It was a dumb, egocentric, and totally unnecessary move. Bill expected a slap on the wrist and a clarification on a rule he thought was ridiculous. Instead he got the league's over reaction and a black mark on the Pats legacy that isn't going away soon.

For all BB has done to create the "patriot way", and the success we have had; this error in judgement can't be erased or fobbed off as someone else's fault.

That being said, the real damage from spygate WAS the league's fault. By NOT fully explaining the league's position and that this was a procedural violation and not cheating, they not only left the Pats out to dry and encourage the massive speculation that led to the Matt Walsh's of the world; it damaged the league itself. Again totally unnecessary

I can only hope that SOMEDAY there will be a book the exposes the entire episode.

I agree that, in the hands of the right author, there's enough material in spygate to make a very interesting book.

I can accept the league's new guidelines which allow a team employee to tape from the sideline as long as they are doing it for a team's weekly show and the cameraman is properly attired. I can accept it, but I don't understand it. If filming from the sideline led to problems before, why create an environment that could repeat those problems? It's only a matter of time before some coach get suspicious about what it being taped by the guy in the lime green vest on the other sideline. But if the NFL wants to hand matches to arsonists and not expect a fire at some point, that's their business.

I have a bigger problem with the media members who turned the incident from 4 years ago in the biggest scandal in the history of organized human competition and the fans who bought into it. From Easterbrooke to Peter King to Schlereth (who felt violated) and a host of others, they wanted suspensions, asterisks, wins vacated, etc. In their eyes, NFL teams simply did not break rules (Except for Schlereth's Broncos. But that was okay, because everyone else was doing it.) and since the Patriots dared to, they were going to be branded forever.

But when the story of the Jets cameraman came up this week, none of those firebrands of NFL justice thought there was anything wrong with the new guidelines. Or that it had the potential to lead to trouble that was similar to what consumed them 4 years ago. They just said "Lime green vest? Weekly TV show? No problem." I guarantee, though, they would have felt differently if that picture from the Jets game was of the New England sideline and a guy in Patriots hat and t-shirt was pointing a camera at the Jets sideline.

 

[Titus Pullo]