Running up the Score

Much is being made of the Patriots allegedly running up the score on their opponents. After 5 weeks of play, it certainly seems like they're not being particularly sportsmanlike. But overzealous media has certainly blown some stuff out of proportion.


Week 2: Up by 17 with less than 4 minutes to go, Patriots go for it on 4th and 1 at the San Diego 3-yard line: Up 3 scores, it certainly seems like kicking a field goal would have been sporting. Verdict: Running it up.

Week 3: Up by 31 with less than 4 minutes to go, Patriots run up the middle on 4th and 6 deep in Buffalo territory: Trickier to decipher, but with the 4th string running back carrying the ball, this is as good as a kneeldown. Verdict: Not running it up.

Week 4: Up by 14 with less than 4 minutes to go, Patriots throw a TD to Moss: Ahead by two scores isn't quite safe, especially against a dynamic Bengals offense. Playing hard still makes sense here. Verdict: Not running it up.

Week 5: Up by 10 with less than 1 minute left, Patriots call a pass play on 4th and goal and fail to score: Not sure what's going on here. 10 points isn't exactly a blowout, but why pass the ball on 4th instead of kicking a field goal? Trying to score still makes sense though. Verdict: Not running it up.

Week 6: Up by 14 with 20 seconds left, Patriots run on 4th and 1 with their 4th-string running back: This one seems pretty egregious. Although the Cowboys did score 8 points in 20 seconds the previous week, it seems like a stretch for them to drive 98 yards for a TD, then score another TD all in 20 seconds. The only justification for not taking a knee is the fact that the Cowboys took a timeout to stop the clock on 2nd down, signaling that they hadn't quite conceded defeat yet. So when taken in context, this doesn't seem AS bad. Verdict: Running it up.

Week 7: Up by 28 near the end of the first half, Patriots try the ol' "fake spike" play to score a TD: After the game, Belichick is accused of running up the score on this play, to which he incredulously replies, "It's the first half--it's the first half!" I agree. Verdict: Not running it up.

Week 7: Up by 21 points with 9 minutes left to play, Brady re-enters the game and promptly drives down the field to score against the hapless, demoralized Dolphins: After the game, ESPN reporters pepper Belichick with questions about putting Brady back in the game to run up the score, then chuckle at Belichick's assertion that a 21-point lead could be overcome with 9 minutes left. Lost in all this is the fact that they took Brady out of the game in the beginning of the 4th quarter, suggesting that they were not looking to run up the score. At this point, the Patriots had not scored since the 1st half, but the Dolphins had scored twice. Seems like a reasonable decision. Verdict: Not running it up.

So while the notion of the Patriots running up the score has a kernel of truth to it, there are really only 2 cases where it was very obvious. Patriots appear to be guilty of being lousy winners, but not to the degree that it may seem.

Thoughts on the Patriots in general:

-Randy, Randy, Randy...the guy is so ridiculous, it's not even fair. Catching a 50 yard bomb with his elbow while two guys cover him...just unbelievable. I really don't have much more to say.

-As awesome as the offense looks, it is weaker than the Colts in at least one area: big plays in the running game. Not that I think it's a huge problem yet, but when the weather turns cold and the aerial show declines, that may start showing up.

-Patriots defense has some issues. Though a solid group, it doesn't appear as dominant as their stats would indicate. They still look too slow to stop the Colts, and the past two weeks have been riddled with missed tackles. I think it will get fixed, but it's pretty disconcerting what with the Indy game lurking around the corner.

-It never occurred to me that Brady would ever be able to sniff Manning's single-season TD record. The old pro-Manning argument used to go: Put Brady in the Colts offense and he can't match Manning's stats, but put Manning on the Patriots, and he wins the Super Bowls. I never bought the latter part of that argument, and now I'm pleasantly surprised that the first part of it may not be true either.

-The NFL sucks this year. As good as the Colts and Patriots have been, the rest of the league has been pretty mediocre. No one talks about parity in the NFL anymore, and I think it's only a matter of time before someone starts talking about how crappy the quality of play has become.