2012 NFL PLAYOFFS: Spygate comes full circle with Patriots thrashing of Broncos
Now that the New England Patriots have silenced the Tim Tebow extravaganza, the spotlight should move to a reoccurring theme in Foxborough. The Patriots were clearly the better overall and battle tested team going into Sunday’s match up, but one has to wonder just how much the hiring of Josh McDaniels just 6 days before the game helped. According to ESPN, a league source stated “I’m not sure we ever contemplated the McDaniels scenario, and it will have to be discussed within the competition committee.” Leave it to the Patriots organization to find a loophole which gives them an advantage. While their actions are completely within current NFL rules, their past indiscretions as well as those of Denver during McDaniels’ tenure make the move questionable.
For those of you who may have forgotten, Bill Belichick was fined a maximum penalty of $500,000 by the NFL for violations of league policy in 2007 for videotaping the New York Jets defensive coaches’ signals during a game. The Patriots organization was also fined $250,000 and that was the end of the scandal. Ironically, Josh McDaniels was offensive coordinator for the Patriots at that time and would soon find himself in a similar situation. Though he was never implicated as part of the original” Spygate”, McDaniels and the Denver Broncos were each fined $50,000 for a six minute film of the San Francisco 49ers practice before their meeting in London during the 2010 season. Ultimate blame fell on Steve Scarnecchia, the Broncos video operations director at the time. Josh McDaniels was found to have no involvement or awareness of the videotaping by both the Broncos organization and the NFL. Both Scarnecchia and McDaniels were each fired that season and McDaniels would become offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. As soon as the regular season ended, McDaniels was looking for a job once again after Steve Spagnuolo was fired. Enter the Patriots and Belichick who just so happened to have a week 1 playoff bye and just so happened to be in the market for a future offensive coordinator. Oh, they also just so happened to be facing McDaniels former team in the Denver Broncos. The announcement was made once the Broncos were officially set to face off with the Patriots.
With a 35-7 lead at halftime, the Patriots set themselves up for a 45-10 thrashing of the Broncos defense. Josh McDaniels was instrumental in selecting Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas in the 2010 NFL draft. He also happens to know the defensive weaknesses of the Broncos better than anyone not named John Fox. Just as their win against the Jets was tarnished, so too is this Patriots win against the Broncos. Did Bill Belichick really need an offensive assistant that bad, one week before facing the Broncos? His offensive coordinator and current staff were all still in place. There was not a need, but there was an opportunity for advantage. While it may all be within the rules, it goes against the unwritten rules of gamesmanship. The reason most fans despise the Patriots is because of moves like this one. Moves which resemble a corporate giant which pushes the mom and pop store out of business by pricing them out of the market and building a mega store right next to theirs. It’s perfectly legal, but it is greedy. While that is perfectly legitimate in business, this is sports. This is supposed to be “may the best man win”, not may the best man with an edge win. The Pats are not disliked because they are a great team. They are disliked because despite their abilities, talents, and achievements they want even more and take unnecessary measures to attain it.
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