AP Writer Points Out That NFL Wants Patriots To Win

The NFL really needs to remember to pay all of it's whores or they will get mouthy. Tim Dahlberg doesn't exactly have the testicular fortitude to say the truth without blinking, but he does make some good points in his latest article. The most overlooked angle is one regarding the NFL Network. Remember, the Packers-Cowboys-NFL Network thread where I suggested that the NFL Network carrying NFL games could result in a "conflict of interest?" Here is what Dahlberg has to say about the NFL's need to keep the Patriots perfect until that last game.</p>
<p class="inside-copy">The NFL wants it to be must-see TV, but to see it you must watch the league's own NFL Network. It's one of eight games the league kept for itself this year, and one which some 70 million households won't be able to see because of a bitter dispute the NFL is having with cable companies.</p>
<p class="inside-copy">The more valuable the game, the more leverage the NFL figures it will have to force cable operators to carry the network on the lucrative basic cable tier. By far the most valuable game left this year will almost surely be Pats/Giants.</p>
<p class="inside-copy">Take away the historic angle and it becomes a meaningless game between two teams most likely resting their stars for the playoffs. Make it mean something big and the NFL has a golden opportunity to force the hands of the cable companies.</p>
<p class="inside-copy">The stakes are huge. If the NFL signs up all the major cable companies, it could be looking at revenues perhaps as high as $1 billion a year just for the network itself.</p>
<p class="inside-copy">1billion dollars. Anyone need a better motive for the Patriots' inexplicable escape from the Ravens on Monday Night? Hey Roger, don't forget to pay yourwhores.</p>
<p class="inside-copy">http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/20...532120234_x.htm</p>

 

League wide conspiracy to make the Ravens call time-out? To call a holding play that was actually a clear holding play? To make some jackass commit consecutive Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalties? To make the Patriots all-knowing future-tellers and have them jump off-sides?</p>

Sounds logical to me.</p>

By the way, Bellichick was the gunman on the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot. He also provided the studio where the moonlanding was staged.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (agoo101284)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

By the way, Bellichick was the gunman on the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot. He also provided the studio where the moonlanding was staged.</p>

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We all know the lone gunman wasn't Boller or Jay Feidler.</p>

The alleged moon landing was shot @ Groom Lake/Area 51.</p>

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (agoo101284)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

League wide conspiracy to make the Ravens call time-out? To call a holding play that was actually a clear holding play? To make some jackass commit consecutive Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalties? To make the Patriots all-knowing future-tellers and have them jump off-sides?</p>

Sounds logical to me.</p>

By the way, Bellichick was the gunman on the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot. He also provided the studio where the moonlanding was staged.</p>

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Who's your favorite team, Agoo? My signature gives away my loyalties right away, so other posters can take that into account. I'm not trying to hide anything. I can make good arguments with plenty of support for them. Your just making wise cracks and no one can really see where you stand. Are you riding on the Patriots' bandwagon? Is that why you want people to hush about the Patriots' escape last Monday? Actually, you can throw in the Eagles game because that late touchdown catch looked sketchy to me, yet the officials saw no reason to review it. Another point that the whore who wrote this article made.</p>

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Ugh....</p>

 

I am not riding the Patriots bandwagon. As a native New Englander, I am a fan of the Patriots and have been when they sucked and now when they are the best in the league. Even living in the midst of Bills country, I am sticking with my Patriots fandom. So yes, I am a Patriots fan, but do not lump me in with the people who have become Patriots fans in the Brady era.</p>

For the Eagles game, it should have been reviewed. Based on the replay I just watched, I don't see how it could have been overturned. Both feet were in and his knee appeared to be in as well. For the touchdown against the Ravens, they should have reviewed that as well. However, it is likely that it would not have been overturned as there is no indisputeable evidence that he did not have possession. There is no indisputeable evidence that he did have possession either, so whatever call was made on the field would have stood.</p>

As for you making "good arguments," that is a subjective categorization and it is what you are calling it. I'm sure I'm not alone when I call it a fairly significant annoyance. The league destroyed those tapes quickly, this is true. However, why do they need to release those to the public? If there was something on there, it would give away the Jets play-calling philosophies even easier than watching the regular "all-22" game film (and easier than having a guy in the stands, or coaching booth, doing with binoculars and paper what the Patriots did with a camera, which has been admitted to and regularly neglected by you). If there's nothing in there, then what's the big deal?</p>

As I have said previously, the NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore forced a Ravens DB to hold back Ben Watson? The NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore forced the Patriots to jump on fourth down? The NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore forced the Ravens to call time out? The NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore forced that jackass linebacker to commit consecutive Unsportsmanlike Penalties? The NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore made Kyle Boler launch the ball down the middle to three awaiting Patriots? The NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore had the referees call the lesser applicable penalty on the Watson play? The NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore completely ignored the blatant and heinous offensive pass interference on the hail mary at the end? The NFL wants the Patriots to win and therefore had them put a linebacker on the goal line to make that tackle on the two on the hail mary that should have been called back anyway?</p>

From the looks of it, at best, you're hanging your hat on two touchdown calls that could have gone either way and neither would have been overturned in replay review. You can call it a good argument if you want, but I'm going to call it repetitive, illogical, and useless.</p>

 

1. You admit that the two touchdown calls could have gone either way. Easy for you to dismiss that since they went the Patriots way. I wonder how much you would be complaining if they had gone the other way and the Patriots had lost one or both games.</p>

2. I was just trying to get you to come out and admit your a Patriots fan. There's nothing about your avatar, signature or personal page that would reveal that. That means you can come and debate me and appear to just be an objective fan when you clearly are not. I make it clear that I'm a Dolphins fan, so other posters can see that and take that into account when they read what I write. I don't expect that kills my credibility or your being a Pats fan kills yours, but people should know your bias when your debating. </p>

3. Some of your counterpoints were accurate, but some weren't. The NFL is investigating the behavior of some of their officials because several Ravens players have complained. The officials may not have made the Ravens players commit unsportsmanlike conduct, but when you take a defense that is playing their guts out against a tough offense and the officials are baiting them with personal attacks then throwing flags, then you can't hang the blame entirely on the Ravens. Then factor in the two touchdowns, which you admitted could have gone either way BUT just happened to go the Patriots way and I think there's a very good argument for saying the NFL has the Patriots backs.</p>

 

who cares there losing to the steelers.</p>

 

HUMPTY DUMPTY was pushed!</p>

 

I dont buy the conspiracy thing, but for the record, the Ravens did not call a time out on that play....only the head coach and players on the field can call time outs, all others are not authorized and should be ignored....</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mamba)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

Jesus, Dolfan, just shut up. Enough with you're crying.</p>

Was Ryan told to called a timeout? Where the Patriots told to jump offsides? Was Ray Lewis' and the D told to let Brady run for the first down? Was Scott set up to make 30 yards in penalties? Was the pass interference, really the wind?</p>

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Mamba, if you can't handle dissenting opinions, then perhaps message boards aren't the place for you.</p>

No one forced Ryan to call the timeout. The Patriots were just stupid lucky to commit a penalty that kept them from losing a game. Of course, the fact that you can commit a penalty and it helps you shows that then NFL rule book needs to be revisited. The NFL is investigating the behavior of it's officials in light of complaints made by SEVERAL Ravens players. If that turns out to be true, then that really casts the whole ending of the game in a different light. It also didn't look to me like Gaffney had control of the football before he stepped out of bounds. Now, if it's crying to point these things out now, then the Patriot fans are plenty guilty of doing the same thing after the Patriots-Colts game. Don't dish it out, if you can't take it.</p>

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Still you didn't think they'd go this far without losing a game. lol</p>

As for the game versus the ravens, it shouldn't have come down to the last couple of minutes for the ravens, they had a chance to put the game away and didn't, so IMO they have no right to complain. If you're man enough, beat them when you had the ball, don't complain to the ref like he stole the game from you when you were the one that threw the flag into the stands.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

As for the game versus the ravens, it shouldn't have come down to the last couple of minutes for the ravens,</p>

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Exactly. Thats the best the Ravens have played on MNF this yr. I don't like or agree with alot of whats happened in the NFL this yr but can't control it So I will not whine about it.</p>

For example, I picked the Ravens to go to the Super Bowl this yr. In years past, I might have posted somewhat slanted comments and been accused of being biased but this is a whole new bA. I'll leave being subjectively unilateral to the rest of y'all.</p>

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

Still you didn't think they'd go this far without losing a game. lol</p>

As for the game versus the ravens, it shouldn't have come down to the last couple of minutes for the ravens, they had a chance to put the game away and didn't, so IMO they have no right to complain. If you're man enough, beat them when you had the ball, don't complain to the ref like he stole the game from you when you were the one that threw the flag into the stands.</p>

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CK, you keep leaving out that several Ravens players said that the ref provoked them. In the heat of the game, if the ref is mouthing off and making questionable calls, then I can see how a player might lose his cool. It is the official's job to not respond and escalate the moment.</p>

By the way, I just saw an interview with Tony Dungy. I guess he called the league office because he was confused by the officials allowing the Ravens DC to call a timeout. He said that the league office explained that they can't keep an eye on who is calling the timeout and the action on the field so they will allow others to call a timeout. Dungy said that it seems to him that they need to revisit that rule because that ISN'T what the rule says. So, I guess the NFL is saying that it's rules aren't exactly set in stone and the refs can ignore them or interprete them however they choose. That's a pretty slippery slope. Kind of reminds me of the tuck rule.</p>

Do you really want to take this stand? It seems to me that Patriot fans complain a lot when the calls seemingly don't go their way, win or lose or anytime they play the Colts.</p>

Edit - The more I think about it, I find the NFL's response to be incredibly incompetent. The NFL can't provide enough officials to keep track of the action on the field and the sidelines? Are they hurting for money and can't hire enough people? What a joke.</p>

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DolfanDale)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

1. You admit that the two touchdown calls could have gone either way. Easy for you to dismiss that since they went the Patriots way. I wonder how much you would be complaining if they had gone the other way and the Patriots had lost one or both games.</div></p>

Upon further review, the one against the Eagles is a pretty clear touchdown. If it was called out, it would have been overturned. The Ravens touchdown could have gone either way, but it just was called as a touchdown. There was no indesputable evidence to turn that play over and you cannot rationally say that there was. Either way, its not that big of a deal to me because either way, the Patriots would have scored on the next play and I don't doubt that for a moment.</p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>2. I was just trying to get you to come out and admit your a Patriots fan. There's nothing about your avatar, signature or personal page that would reveal that. That means you can come and debate me and appear to just be an objective fan when you clearly are not. I make it clear that I'm a Dolphins fan, so other posters can see that and take that into account when they read what I write. I don't expect that kills my credibility or your being a Pats fan kills yours, but people should know your bias when your debating.</div></p>

I've never really been secretive about it. I'll put my Patriots fandom in my signature as soon as you put your blind hatred for the Patriots in yours.</p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>3. Some of your counterpoints were accurate, but some weren't. The NFL is investigating the behavior of some of their officials because several Ravens players have complained. The officials may not have made the Ravens players commit unsportsmanlike conduct, but when you take a defense that is playing their guts out against a tough offense and the officials are baiting them with personal attacks then throwing flags, then you can't hang the blame entirely on the Ravens. Then factor in the two touchdowns, which you admitted could have gone either way BUT just happened to go the Patriots way and I think there's a very good argument for saying the NFL has the Patriots backs.</div></p>

There's a pretty significant difference in your scenario and what I saw. When I saw a clip of the alleged "baiting," there were Ravens DBs yelling at Patriots WRs and the two groups were talking at each other to probably start shoving each other. The ref in question came over to break that up. The idiot who committed the unsportsmanlike penalties was no where to be seen. There was no clock associated with the clip shown, but I am led to believe that they occurred at the same time. The gathering of DBs and WRs was on the field, whereas the Ravens idiot was in the endzone.</p>

What you do need to admit is that the Ravens simply lost this game. I'm not going to say that the Patriots played well at all. They gave the Ravens every chance to win it. However, on fourth down, the Ravens called timeout. The coach complaining most about that call is Tony Dungy, not Brian Billick. You should agree that Billick is so full of himself that he would take any chance he could to point out the ineptitude of other coaches, but he took the blame for the timeout. The next play, the Patriots clearly jumped and that was not a fabricated call. Just a lucky moment, and a rule that should be looked at in the off season. Then, rather than keep up the pressure that had been getting to Brady, they rushed three and let him run for well over the needed six yards. The holding call was blatant and either negated or made the ref ignore the pass interference on the safety who came over the top of Watson before the ball was there. On the Gaffney TD, the ref was watching his feet and his feet were in so he called the TD. With the replay, there is simply no indesputable evidence to negate the TD call. Additionally, the Patriots would have easily scored on any one of the next plays, considering they'd be on the two after the unsportsmanlike calls, which were committed by a different player in a different place than the alleged baiting. Additionally, it was brilliant coaching to have two linebackers there to tackle the Raven who made that catch. Of course, that tackle was made possible by Derek Mason clearing out the Patriots defensive back who was going to make the play on the ball. And that penalty was not called.</p>

The Colts game and this game are very different circumstances. The Patriots had to overcome blatantly bad calls against them, or in favor of the Colts repeatedly throughout the game. They didn't make repeated idiotic plays to lose the game and they didn't lose their cool. It was poor coaching and Also, the Patriots are not the first team to bitch about the refs calling infavor of the Colts.</p>

What you have in your favor is coincidence. There's history to be made that people would want to see on a network that no one can see. The NFL is trying to dick over cable companies and they are looking for something that will piss people off and missing a chance at seeing the Patriots go 16-0 would qualify. There is one thing missing though. People don't like the Patriots and they don't want them to go undefeated.</p>

There's also not a great deal of evidence in your favor, as is the case with most conspiracy theories.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (agoo101284)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

I've never really been secretive about it. I'll put my Patriots fandom in my signature as soon as you put your blind hatred for the Patriots in yours.</p>

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Touche!</p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (agoo101284)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

There's also not a great deal of evidence in your favor, as is the case with most conspiracy theories.</p>

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The best conspiracies are the hardest to prove. Yet, right there in front of us. Just go watch that movie w/ Mel, Julia, & Patrick Stewart again.... you'll get. Though, I am the resident Conspiracy theorist round these here parts</p>

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1. You can be sure that the Patriots would have scored against the Eagles on the next play. I'm not. In my eyes, you have to actually do something before you can take credit for it.</p>

2. The Patriots didn't beat the Ravens. The refs blatantly ignored the rule that said a head coach must call the timeout. If that's not good enough, Gaffney was GIVEN a touchdown reception. He was bobbling the ball in the endzone.</p>

3. I can't admit to blind hatred of the Patriots because I don't hate them blindly. Actually, I've stated how I feel about the Patriots and Belicheck in many threads, but don't you know that already? Earlier in this thread, you accused me of being repetitive and is anyone that frequents this forum not aware of the issues I have with Belicheck and Harrison? On the other hand, I had a hard time remembering what team you root for because there was nothing on your profile to give me the least little bit of a clue. I just think that a Patriot fan should disclose that fact when defending the Patriots in a debate especially if he's going to call me out for not liking the Patriots. Then again, how Rodney Harrison of you to look for an advantage when debating me. (Just kidding.I could resist.) I've been very clear about how I feel regarding the Patriots, Belicheck and Harrison and I've given reason why I feel that way. You can disagree with my opinions, but you can't say that they are without reason.</p>

4. Why is it that we should take your opinion about bad calls, in the Patriots-Colts game, as fact, but my opinion about the bad calls in the Patriots-Ravens. isn't even a true opinion, but blind hatred? I just don't see the calls the same way. I think my opinion is just as valid as yours.</p>

5. What does the public not liking the Patriots have to do with the price of tea in China? (By the way, I don'tagree. This forum seems to have just as many pro-Patriot fans as anti-Patriot or non-comitted fans.) That doesn't change the demand to want to see the Giants-Patriots game. If your assumption about the public is true, they will want to watch and hope to see the Giants upset the Patriots or they might just want to watch NFL history should it occur. If the Patriots lose between now and then, there goes the demand and a lot of money to be lost. I never claimed to have evidence, but I do think there is certainly motive and it smells a more fishy to me in light of the ending of the Patriots-Ravens game.</p>

 

DolfinDale is just upset his team hasn't won a game yet. He'll be a bit cranky till they win a game. Maybe next year he'll calm down.</p>