I don't think the NE Patriots should be blasted for beating teams the way they do

[Hawaii Hiker]

Many people are angry that the New England Patriots beat teams BAD, go for it on 4th. & 1, etc...

The Patriots should NOT be forced on take a knee 3x because they are leading by a large margin...Maybe, the opposing teams defense should try to make a STOP, this is the NFL, not the Pop Warner league....Last night against Buffalo, New England went for it on fourth down on two occassions, that's a GOOD decision...They have confidence in their offense, no reason to kick a FG when you can get a TD...

Now, if the Patriots were leading 56-3 in the 4th. quarter with 40 seconds left & they were calling timeouts to set up another score, etc. that would be classless, but what they are doing is not wrong at all....

Hey, I'm a SF 49ers fan at heart (and they SUCK), I'm not even a Patriots fan, but I am in awe of how good they are & they should not be criticized for beating teams the way they do..

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. I agree. If other teams have a problem with it, maybe they should work on not sucking

instead of whining.

[Godhumor]

2. I live in Buffalo, and I was ashamed of our team...not the Pats

Our coach after the game immediately said that the Pats did exactly what they should have done in those situations.

Buffalo didn't whine about it, but, man, that was humiliating. Hopefully, we bounce back against the Jags (also, hopefully, the NE game was the last time I have to see Losman as a starter, but that's another thread.).

[DS1]

3. these 4th and 1s through the season just might the difference when it really does count

[MissMillie]

4. opposing teams do bear some responsibility for playing defense

I heard the Steelers lost this week. I also heard about 8 or 9 sportscasters say that the Steelers are probably the only team left that could ruin the Patriot's undefeated season.

I happen to believe that anything can happen. Any team can have a good day, any team can have a bad day, and you never know when injuries arise.

So I think you should play your best ball, every game.

[1gobluedem]

5. Agree

These are professional teams that select and pay their players, not little high schools that have to go with what's available.

Someone is paid to play offense, he's going to play offense as best as he can. If someone is paid to play defense, the guy needs to play defense as best as he can. That's all there is to it.

[Highway61]

6. Pinch me

Say it isn't so. You are a breath of fresh air! I am from New England and am staying in Jersey for the past year (can't wait to go home). I can't believe the bashing that goes on "down" here against the Sox, Pats, Celtics (lost their first one last night). It's exausting. Can't admit that maybe, just maybe, they are GOOD?
Thank you for your post.

[underpants]

7. The Myth of Punting

The Full 26 page PDF file here
http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~dromer/papers/JPE_April06.pdf


http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/
A few years back, the economist David Romer wrote an academic paper suggesting that teams in the N.F.L. should punt less frequently. While the league’s coaches mostly dismissed his findings, I suspect that teams are a bit more likely to go for it on fourth down in marginal situations today than they were before he wrote the article.
N.F.L. coaches may have laughed at Romer, but Kevin Kelley took note. Kelley is the football coach at Pulaski Academy, an Arkansas prep school, and his team no longer punts except to avoid running up the score. As Gregg Easterbrook reports on ESPN.com:
Kelley says that when he began to shun the punt, people thought he was crazy: “It’s like brainwashing, people believe you are required to punt.” Players and the home crowd needed to get acclimated to it. “When we first started going on every fourth down,” he says, “our home crowd would boo and the players would be distressed. You need to become accustomed to the philosophy and buy into the idea. Now our crowd and our players expect us to go for it, and get excited when no punting team comes onto the field. When my 10-year-old son sees N.F.L. teams punting on short yardage on television, he gets upset because he’s grown up with the idea that punting is usually bad.”
So far, it seems to be working pretty well. The Pulaski Bruins finished the regular season at 9-2-1 this year.