MattM

I'm not sure that posters here are giving Russell Wilson enough credit. He may not be Manning, Brady or Rogers (or even Luck), but he's a gamer with the ability to hurt you with his arm, legs and head. If we could find someone half as good as he is, all elements considered, I think we win the East.

Looking back, I can't believe that the unexplained "extra frequency over the NFL allowed frequency" found in the Pats* radio system during Spygate, combined with Doug Flutie going on a Boston radio show and saying he once picked up the wrong QB helmet and heard the coaches talking to the QB well after the League-mandated cutoff (the best part is that Flutie apparently laughed about that and thought it was funny), didn't get much, much more play back then.....

I went today and was able to get 5 upper deck seats for the Giants game (a family gift) at about 9:15. Not bad seats and much cheaper than what I was contemplating on StubHub. The ticket agent did initially have trouble locating seats, however, as they were getting bought out from under him as we were talking. Sounded like this was a much different process/enthusiasm level than prior years. First time I've taken advantage of this ST benefit, but may need to try it again next year.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/05/49ers-anthony-davis-retires-at-age-25/ This is reaching X-File like proportions out there--half the team seems to have retired this offseason.....

If Montana got half the calls that the Pats* and Brady* have gotten over the years they would have won many more Super Bowls. Who can forget "just give it to them" or the ref "inadvertently" blowing his whistle on Nate Clements' pick six of Brady to seal a game a few years back (among many other awful, one-way calls in that game--so bad that TMQ had to write about the officiating in that game in his column) or more recently the 15 yarder on a key third down stop against Jerry Hughes last year for slapping his own teammate's helmet. That's just against us off the top of my head. Then you have the Tuck Rule, the absolute mugging of Colts' receivers without any calls during the 2004 AFCCG (that even led to a rule emphasis change the next year to help cover it up), the Monday night rip job against the Ravens that got Suggs and others on that team nearly fined, the obvious hold against the Saints last year on the game-winning last play of the game, one of my personal favorites (since the announcers never really understood the call), a very late flag against the Texans on what would have been a game losing pick of Brady that let the Pats* come back to win and on and on and on. If things truly balance out, the Patriots* aren't due for a good call going their way until about 2056. Make no mistake, there are other shoes to drop with respect to the Cheats*. Hold your views on who the GOAT is until all the evidence comes out.

And who knows what new scandal(s) involving Brady* and the Pats** will be common knowledge by then?

Or Belicheats*' ex-wife.

Good piece on Patriot* Derangement Syndrome from Slate: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/05/tom_brady_appeal_new_england_patriots_fans_have_gone_over_the_deep_end_over.html

If true, looks like this whole dance was to let Kraft, not Goodell, save face. Part of me hopes Brady pushes his appeal so we can get him into court and subject to civil discovery.

Kraft and Brady could buy their silence with the change they pull out of their couch (in a relative sense). The only hope to ever find out the real truth here is to get this into court where full discovery rules apply and where there may be the usual out (if the schlubs had a real lawyer look at the Confidentiality Agt--I give that a 50/50) for requirements of law, rule, reg., including subpoena for breaking the NDA. I hope Goodell calls their bluff on this and does let them take it to court. If he does, something tells me Bob Kraft will indeed look the fool if the full truth ever does come out.

Ridiculous--what a message that will send. Discipline is negotiable if you deny it long enough and have enough juice. Pathetic....

What an absolute joke if the NFL reduces the punishment in light of the Pats*' BS attempts at obfuscation. Caught about as red handed as you can expect short of a confession by Tweedledumb and Dumber (especially considering Brady's lack of cooperation and lies), it will only cement Goodell's legacy as Bob Kraft's lap dog. I may honestly be done as a fan if that happens....

Or perhaps he found out during the course of this investigation that he'd been lied to during previous investigations

You mean the side that blamed it all on McNally's diet plan?

Funny how Pats* fans nitpick any little potential inconsistency in the Wells report and argue that any tiny little potential incinsistency shows the whole report is wrong, yet won't apply that same standard to the BS the Pats* are spewing on their ridiculous website. Doesn't work that way, sorry. Most reasonable people agree with Tuel--when you make a ridiculous and obvious lie like the "deflator" point everything else you say gets viewed in light of that. As I just said elsewhere, the idiot who came up with that should be fired and the fact that no one else in Pats* land stopped him speaks volumes about their arrogance and sheer disdain for the intelligence of their audience. To wit, my wife nearly spit out her drink when she read that--we all thought for sure it was from the Onion. I'm really starting to think that all Pats* fans are delusional--there is so much evidence here pointing to their guilt, yet absent a signed confession (not likely, since they're already hiding evidence) they don't believe it. It would really be akin to Bills fans militantly thinking OJ was innocent. Not many (if any) of us here believe that I'd wager. It's really a special kind of idiocy infecting Pats* nation right now.

Whoever it was who was responsible for the spin/lie about calling the guy "the Deflator" because he was trying to lose weight should be fired posthaste and shame on Kraft & Co. for such an obvious load of crap. Makes you really wonder about ANYTHING else that comes out of his mouth.

With a few exceptions, I think most folks here (even those who disagree with each other) play well together in the sandbox

"It was just one team, really, brought before us over and over on suspicion of cheating", unnamed NFL Competition Committee member in 2008 NYT article on the Cheatriots....

So jamming an opposing team's wireless headset is not possible? It's just coincidence that several teams have specifically had this problem at Gillette and nowhere else? In addition, what say you to the reported post-Spygate discovery that the Pats** had an extra frequency above what the League allowed on their headsets? Was that to listen to the radio in between plays? http://nypost.com/2014/10/12/they-are-cheaters-spygate-the-nfl-scandal-that-started-it-all/ Pretty good Spygate summary article from (shudder) the NY Post...,

At least two head coaches made similar claims to the League--Jack Del Rio and Rod Marinelli both complained to the League that their headsets went out at key moments (3rd downs when their offense had crossed midfield) at Gillette. That's been known for years. I keep coming around over and over again to that NYT article from May,2008 in which two members of the NFL Competition Committee told the reporter "It was one team, over and over again, that was brought before us on suspicion of cheating, far more than anyone else"--your New England Patriots** ladies and gentlemen!

Or how about the text where he says that he's going to blow the ball up so big that the only thing going down will be Brady's passer rating? How the heck is there anyone in America (much less newfound Pats* apologists like Mike Florio--he's posted a ton of garbage attempting to exonerate them since this past Saturday, after having previously been more open-minded on the subject) who still believes these obvious liars?

I was just saying this to my wife. I also wonder whether cheating in a sport that so many wager on might also be seen to be criminal fraud. Flutie clammed up pretty quickly on that it sound like, saying it only once on a radio call in show. It was almost like someone talked to him shortly thereafter.

No time to read the entire thread, but even I must admit that some Pats** fans (Pneumonic comes to mind, at least off the Brady topic) come to talk football and make a decent contribution on both their team and general football issues. Heck, I even agree with WEO on occasion on non-Pats** items! There are others, however (Bill Brasky comes to mind), who must come to troll and add little to nothing to the conversation. I'm not a fan of banning opposing fans--Patsfans.com did that a few years back during Spygate and took it to an extreme. It made them look ridiculous.

Isn't the game at Lucas Oil this year? If so, I'd take that bet--the Pats** won't have any home advantage (and whatever advantages (fair or foul) that entails for them). A rusty Brady might just get his clock cleaned there, but time will tell on that (and even when, if ever, he serves his suspension, as they may try to drag it out to a less meaty part of their schedule). I also wonder who is going to play CB for them, as they just about gutted their CB ranks this offseason. Combine that with losing Wilfork and not really adding much in FA or the draft (although they did draft a big plugger for the middle of the D at 32) and it may be an interesting year in Foxboro.

On the water muddying point, please explain to me how the Pats**' balls deflated at over twice the rate of the Colts' balls. All those giving truck to the "bad gauge" argument seem to gloss right over that, including Florio, as best I can tell.