They didn't cheat, they found a rule they could use and used it. Again, the Pats will lead to another rule change I bet, but it's not cheating. Bill has always done his whole career and one of the reasons he is as good of a HC as he is. He finds ways to create pains for the other team and exploits them. The sideline wall trick Jets stole on punt returns, the mugging of receivers, pick plays, etc.
It reminds me a lot of what Mangini did against the Colts in 2006 when he sidestepped the rulebook and violated the coaches unwritten rule against quick substitutions that did not allow the defense to respond. Dungy came out and called Mangini a cheater after the game and the NFL competition committee scheduled an emergency meeting before the next game to make Mangini's actions officially illiegal. In a sense here Belicheck is doing the same thing by using a loophole to gain an advantage. It might not be as bad as what Mangini as he did it the entire game and there was an informal agreement in place not to exploit substutions to gain an advantage but the Pats here did it on a national stage in a much bigger game. It will be interesting to see the NFL's reaction. Will they outlaw it before next week like they did to Mangini or will they let it slide. In regards to whether it was cheating or not. Of course it was cheating. It was using an unintended loophole to gain a competitive advantage. That is an exploit and cheating. To me it is much more important how you play the game. Not win at all costs. Winning without integrity or a fair playing field is much worse than losing to me. The move by the Pats and to be fair Mangini in 2006 both showed a complete lack of class and integrity.
Quick question? Dont the coaches usually talk to the referees and inform/question about certain plays the plan on doing? Like I know Payton told the refs he was doing an onside kick, but even like during the week they make sure the plays are legal? The referees were not prepared, they should have been, but Belichick should have informed that he was going to do this, most coaches do that I thought.
BB found a loophole and used it. NFL will or will not close it. It was cunning and showed creative thinking.
Your bias has no bounds. If Rexy did this you'd be going gaga over his genius move. Never done before equals illegal and cheating? In fact it has been explained by enough experts since the game ended that the play was 100% legal. And the Patriots did it according to the rules, and the ref handled it according to the rules. There is a rule that a player with a number that makes him eligible may alert the ref he is ineligible. The ref informs the D and it is 100% legal. Harbaugh just adds to his family's and the Ravens legacy of being fucking cry babies.
The fault in the play is with the ref not communicating the play properly to all parties involved. Not cheating, per se, but I would consider it counting on the incompetence of the officiating to gain an advantage.
The ref told the D that #34 was not an eligible receiver. Both on NFL Network and ESPN they said the ref handled it properly. Whats he supposed to do? Stop the game and go to Harbaugh and pull out the rule book to explain to him a rule he probably should know since he is a HC in the NFL.
So you think teams should stop doing any trick plays? Since you are deceiving the other team it must be unsportsmanlike.
This is nonsense. The ravens knew who was ineligible but couldn't react quickly enough. I think this should be handled like a substitution which requires the defense to have the time to substitute and adjust, but that just means the rule needs revision. How in the world is playing by the rules cheating?
Don't be an idiot. This isn't even the first time or the first team to do this during the season. Shit gets done all the time in Pop Warner and high school football. Harbaurgh is just a fucking moron.
I've never seen that. Not a 4 receiver set and then one declares ineligible. That formation was whack. Special teams, yeah some garbage; but not like that with 4 receivers; nobody has seen that in the NFL; not like that.
