This week’s edition of Patriots Football Weekly (owned by the team).
Nice.
It might be a stretch to say that the Patriots are “using” PFW to send a message, but as the paper is a house publication, they at least approve of the the suggestion here.
I guess this is as good a time as any to mention that this is the issue my monthly media column is in. It’s a look at the coverage of the Incognito/Martin incident in Miami, and the work done by the likes of Jay Glazer and Shannon Sharpe on this issue.
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An annoying theme that has seemingly become a running go-to subject to bring up every time the Patriots have a call go against them is to bring up the tuck rule. The Globe in particular is obsessed with the tuck rule. Whether it is Shaughnessy, Ryan or Chris Gasper today, the tuck rule is again referenced as evidence that the Patriots have been the recipient of fortunate calls on their own end.
The difference being, of course, that the tuck rule was an actual rule that was enforced correctly, as opposed to a flag being thrown for an obvious foul and then picked up without explanation.
I find the incongruity of this headline appearing in Globe highly amusing:
I heard the “payback for the tuck rule” last year in the regular season Baltimore game, the one Bill Belichick referenced Monday night when he said he had been instructed that asking for an explanation from the officials was not the right thing to do. I heard “payback for the tuck rule” on the “push rule” call in the Jets game. (By the way – that call, which had never been made before and supposedly had been a point of emphasis that week – has it been called since? Or will that be the only time that call is ever made in the National Football League?)
My other bone to pick is the idea that a team “deserves to win.”
Hope everyone has taken a deep breath and is over the non-call. The team that deserved to win the game won the game. P.S. Pats over Peytons
— Bob Ryan (@GlobeBobRyan) November 19, 2013
Only diehard Pats zealots would seriously maintain that Car didn't outplay the Pats. Take off the blinders!!! Calls happen. Play better.
— Bob Ryan (@GlobeBobRyan) November 19, 2013
I love the “diehard Pats zealots” bit. To me, Ryan was just trolling Patriots fans with these tweets, and I said so on Twitter.
So, if on that final play Brady had managed to connect with Gronk, would Ryan be saying the Patriots deserved to win? Or that they had been outplayed by Carolina?
That was about as evenly a played game as we’ve seen in the NFL. But if I say that, I’m a “diehard Pats zealot” with “blinders” who can’t see the truth.
Maybe it’s expectations? The Panthers played better than many who hadn’t seen them before thought they could, so it means they outplayed the Patriots? The game came down to one or two plays. I have a hard time saying either team significantly outplayed the other. It was a great, evenly played game that the Panthers came out on top in. I’ve got no problem saying that.
Meanwhile, if you had a bad day yesterday, take solace, it could’ve been worse:
NFL Media’s Albert Breer has travel meltdown with U.S. Airways; informed viewers roll their eyes
