Steven in MD

The offensive hold is an excellent prevention to sacks!

Thank you Donte....it was last years Super Bowl that got me on a late night surf of the internet. The lines in Vegas are set by the money bet on each side. Vegas does not care who wins, they always make money. I define the underdog as the team that is getting points at the time of kick-off.

Cut it out already Kelly...

The line was Chargers -4.5 or you can say Pats +4.5 that makes them the underdog.

I never said it was the best source for my theory...but it was plausible to me. When Naimith did those commericals in the 70's and 80's there was tremendous backlash from the NFL. They did not mind players doing endorsements in their local markets, but not on a national level. The Pats were underdogs yesterday.....

Simon, I wish I could take credit for it...but I too was naive. I read an excellent blog that chronicled professional sports from 1960-2005. The author gave about 20 or so examples of how sports in America evolved. The one that stuck in my mind was the evolution of the NFL from the merger of the AFL and NFL. I wish I could remember the statistics about how strong the correlation was between market size and appearances on MNF in the 70's and 80's and how it changed in the 90's. In the 90's the MNF schedule was based on winning percentages the year prior and not market size (makes sense to me). Unfortunately MNF ratings went down. They changed the booth personnel to no avail. He asserts, and I just happen to agree, that in the late 90's the NFL decided to market the marque players (not the best players) to sell it to the masses. I know it sounds like a conspiracy theory, and maybe it is..but when you see underdogs winning a high percentage of the games, you have to wonder what is going on.

Your forgot Jerome Bettis...

I will admit I am wrong if the Saints do not win the SB....I will stop this because it is clear that nobody here looks at the bigger pitcure of the game. The SB in 2001 is the year I give the Pats credit.

How to best explain this..... The refs are told to "ensure" that the marque players are not injured. They protect players such as Brady. So when the OL holds the player in order to minimize the potential for injury, the do not throw the flag. When you give a QB enough time to throw the ball, he has a higher probability for success. Other players get the same treatement. If Reggie Bush was in the league another 4-5 yrs, that hit on him would have yielded a fine at the least.

THE PLAYERS and COACHES are not fixing games. I am not saying the games are fixed...I am saying the NFL is marketing via the referees and other officials. I expect a tell all book to come out on this subject just like Jose Canseco wrote it on steriod use.

I stand corrected...he is a guard too.

I guess I am just dumb.....oh well better give back those college degrees.

I learned it was called marketing. The NFL figure out how to market its players to the masses. It found players like Montana, Marino, Elway, Kelly, Namath, Brady, Manning (notice QBs) and brought them to the main stream America. Once you bring these guys to the main stream America, they have to win otherwise people will not buy the products they endorse. That is the story....I guess I am a group of 1 that see the NFL as a marketing entity and not a sports league.

Jester...help me here...how exactly did the NFL surplant MLB as the #1 sport in the USA?

That was your first mistake Does anyone think that Pittsburgh won the SB last year? I keep going back to how the Seahawks were hosed in the SB last year and it made me realize that this NFL is a joke as a sports league...but it is a great entertainment value.

Sears is a natural LT...where Peters is a converted TE...I would take Sears here.

I think you are missing the point. Did anyone here think that New Orleans had a shot at the playoffs when the season started? Did anyone here think if they made the playoffs they would be a #2 seed? The NFL is showing it compassion to the people of New Orleans....that is the story line.

WATCH the football games folks....there is no way that you can watch and not know that the games are fixed. It is like WWE. The outcome is known before...the entertainment is how we get there. When New Orleans wins the Super Bowl this season...ask yourself why. Just like I asked myself how PIttsburgh won last season!

Kelly I think you got it backwards. The NFL first selects who to market, then has them win. They do not choose winners, they make them winners.

Ahh...but the beauty is that the Pats are the 3 point underdog, and I expect they will end up being a 4.5 point underdog by game day. Follow the money!

If we can draft Sears we can move Peters back to RT and let Pennington fight for the guard position. Why move a natural LT to guard?

The funny thing is that they did not do the same for Mularkey!

I am not condoning Merriman...though during the game I leave it to the refs to control. Being a classless Patriot after the game (ala Bill Belichek not shaking Mangini's hand after the lose during the season) is just unacceptable for a team that the NFL wants as their face. It is a sham to the fans that the NFL has chosen the Patriots to be the face of the league.

With LT on this one 100%. The Pats showed the classless attitude that as LT says...starts at the HC. The Pats are the most classless team in the NFL. Like Marv said. "Act like you have been there before!"