Wrath of Belichick

Wrath of Belichick
The Rest of the NFL is Responsible for Patriots Bludgeoning Opponents

By Stephen M. Hague November 21, 2007

New England Patriots fans know that Coach Bill Belichick reads, watches, and studies; better yet: eats, sleeps, and drinks all things football. As respectful to football history as he is though, is it possible that he’s taking cues from 18th century English literary giant Samuel Johnson who said: “Revenge is the act of passion; vengeance is an act of justice.”

Those of us outside of the Patriots inner circle; and that would be everyone but 53 players, assorted coaches, and former disciples of all things Belichick, may never know.

It seems obvious though that simply being the best is not good enough. Running up the score and rewriting the record book are not simply his way of showing the rest of the league that he’s the best coach in football and that he has the best team in the history of the NFL. It’s a loud slap in the collective faces of those who dared to question his ethics or comment on the supposed lack of them.

Former Belichick protégé Eric Mangini, now the coach of the AFC East rival NY Jets is responsible for creating this firestorm. It’s his fault that the league and every team the Patriots will play with this season will suffer the consequences. Mangini of course, is the unlikely villain who blew the whistle on his former coach and the Patriots for illegally taping Jets defensive coaches’ signals from the sidelines during their opener in September. A practice Mangini was most certainly familiar with from his time as assistant coach and defensive coordinator under Belichick.

Make no mistake that December 16th had already been circled on Belichick’s calendar before “Spygate” occurred. You can be sure that the circle on the calendar has been changed to a bulls-eye target for Mangini and the Jets and that others that have crossed Belichick have already or will soon feel the fury of a man determined to meet out his own personal brand of justice.

Commissioner Roger Goodell steals away the most coveted possession that Belichick has, a certain to be first round draft pick next year. The way the Patriots are playing, this is sure to be the 32nd and final pick of the 1st round. Goodell’s punishment - Belichick doing his best to roll over and embarrass the rest of the teams on their schedule making a mockery of the league’s ongoing attempt at parity. Also proving that whatever the Patriots were doing in the way of cheating, didn’t make a bit of difference in the way that they played. Oh, by the way Roger, the Patriots still own the 1st round pick of the nose-diving 49er’s which is almost guaranteed to be in the top 5.

LaDanian Tomlinson of the pre-season AFC favorite San Diego Chargers said he wasn't surprised by the allegations that the Patriots cheated, adding that he thought they lived by the motto, "If you're not cheating, you're not trying." Chargers punishment – A thrashing at the hands of the new-look (no-look?) Patriots by the score of 38 – 14 for the 2nd week in a row after dismantling Mangini’s hapless Jets the week before.

After thrashing the killer-less B’s (Bill’s, Bengal’s and Brown’s) in weeks 3, 4 and 5, the Patriots cruised past the formerly high flying and undefeated Cowboys where T.O. learned how good the “real” # 81, Randy Moss is. Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips spent the week prior to the game backpedaling on comments he made earlier in the season that the Patriots Super Bowl titles were tainted because of the cheating allegations. Sorry coach, apology not accepted.

After a couple of more blowouts and a close win against the then undefeated Colts (which has to be considered a moral victory for the Colts after coach Dungy’s “sad day for the NFL” blast) following the cheating scandal, the Patriots score a franchise record 56 points against the Bills. Buffalo had won 4 in a row prior to this game and there had been rumblings out of Buffalo that the Bills actually thought they had a chance to win. Buffalo’s punishment – see above mentioned 56 points and franchise record.

This week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles is sure to be interesting. Interesting to see how many points the Patriots will win by, 20, 30, 40 anyone? The motivation for this upcoming rout? Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb joking earlier in the season after the Spygate scandal was exposed, “maybe we can get our ring back". "Maybe we can get the real one", referring to their loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl 3 years ago. Eagles Safety Brian Dawkins quipped, “There's always going to be questions about the situation, was it great adjustments at halftime or what." Eagles punishment – upcoming grounding at Gillette Stadium, 11/25/07.

The foot-in-mouth syndrome continues of course with the recent statement by Hall of Fame Dolphins coach Don Shula’s comment about having an asterisk placed next to the Patriots upcoming 19 – 0 perfect season. Of course, his ’72 Dolphins undefeated streak of 35 years is in jeopardy so Coach Legend thinks; let’s fire the first volley by trying to smear the ’07 Patriots with Barry Bonds rhetoric?. Please. Dolphins’ punishment – TBD on 12/23/07.
I hope the Dolphins aren’t expecting the Patriots and Belichick to soften up two days before Christmas. Sorry Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas, and Dolphins quarterback whoever you are; Bill Belichick will be delivering his own personalized bag of coal in a sure to be dismemberment of your hopefully (still) winless team.
Maybe we’re just unfairly labeling Belichick as being vindictive. Maybe he sees “spygate” and the reaction to it in simpler terms as Frank Sinatra once said, “The best revenge is massive success."
So continue your jealousy, ridiculous comments, and outlandish accusations fellow NFL’ers; the Patriots and Bill Belichick will add them as fuel to their unstoppable, uncontrollable, and undefeatable wild-fire of a season.