Where Is The Outrage?

Color me confused.

Last week, after the New England Patriots destroyed the Tennessee Titans, there were a number of articles and potshots taken at the Patriots. People were suggesting that the Patriots ran up the score, and in doing so, violated some unwritten rule. They were classless. Many suggested that teams should start taking dirty shots at Tom Brady, and he would be deserving of any intentionally-inflicted injury that resulted. I'm not sure where they think that falls in the unwritten rule/classless spectrum, but that's another point entirely.

I'm confused because I expected to turn on the old cpu today and see similar articles aimed at Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning. Afterall, the Bengals held a hard-to-blow  31-3 lead entering the third quarter. So what is Carson Palmer doing throwing the ball? And even more shameful, with less than 7 minutes to go in the game, and the Colts holding onto a 28-6 lead, Peyton throws a touchdown. Only seven minutes left! Were they going to give up 3 TDs to the hapless Rams in 7 minutes? Outrageous behavior!

I guess I would just like someone to explain to me why these unwritten rules only apply to one quarterback in the NFL. Because the Patriots were up by 45, and not "only" 28, or 22 (with 6:47 to play)? Where is the threshold? Everyone can agree that the Bengals and Colts were clearly on the right side of a blowout. And were it not for those two TD passes, they still would have been blowouts. And let's just say this certainly isn't the first time the former single-season TD holder has been more than guilty of the same indiscretion. So where is the outrage?

Of course, when the Saints score 36 second half points, it's hard to argue when someone "runs up the score".