Last season, the New England Patriots were dominating the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game.
They were up 21-3 at one point.
Then they changed their game plan.
The Pats went with the conventional wisdom and started to run the ball in an attempt to run out the clock.
That proved to be a bad idea.
The Patriots went on to lose the game 38-34, missing an opportunity to play in their fourth Super Bowl in six years.
Us Patriots fans took a while to get over that one, and I'm sure Bill Belichick and the rest of the coaching staff thought long and hard about what went wrong.
Actually, maybe they didn't really need to think that hard.
The answer was quite simple:
The Pats lost because they changed their plan of attack based on the score. They lost because they stopped piling on points against a great opponent. They lost because they took a guy named Tom Brady virtually out of the game by leaning so heavily on the run.
Not this season.
Critics everywhere have claimed that the Patriots are showing no "class" by running up the score on their opponents.
News flash: There's no rule against it.
All the Patriots are doing is making sure they don't lose. We've all seen great comebacks. The Pats don't need to learn their lesson twice.
If teams don't want so many points scored against them, they should figure out ways to stop New England. After all, it's not really the Pats' fault that nobody matches up with them.
We'll find out Sunday if the Colts can hang. They're the defending Super Bowl champions. They still haven't lost a game since winning it all. They're even better statistically this year than they were last year.
If the Patriots blow out these Colts, all of those who claim "no class" should pipe down—and show some respect for what may be the best team of all time.
Patriots Running Up the Score? How 'Bout Just Ensuring a Win...
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8 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
John Winson about 1 year ago
The flat-out best response to this "running up the score" nonsense. Well done. I wish this article could go coast to coast.
My view is that there are three objects in the game of football. The object of the game for the team is to win. The object of the game for the offense is to score. The object of the game for the defense is to stop (or limit) the scoring.
Putting in 2nd or 3rd string players when the score becomes lopsided does not change the object of the game for either the offense or the defense. Neither Belichick nor any other coach in the league would expect their players to do anything less when it came their time to play
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Mike Burnat about 1 year ago
Seems to me that the only ones complaining about the Pats running up the score is some sports writers. Most coaches / players will say its up to the defense to stop the other teams offense. This is not High School or Pop Warner Football. It's the NFL! Stop complaining and tighten up the defense. Mike
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Jeff S about 1 year ago
Wanna stop the Patriots from running up the score?
Just change the game to end this way:
The first team to reach 40 points total or a four touchdown lead wins. Game over. Send everyone home.
Pats still win, nobody loses by more than 28 points. Everybody is happy, including the wimpy sportswriters who feel it's their duty to bash anyone or any team that is on top of their game.
I'm glad I'm not a journalist. I couldn't live with myself.
I can't believe that every network associated with the NFL would want to even hire a writer who's idea of "running up the score" in professional sports. The Patriots HAVE to be great for ratings.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
It just doesn't make sense to stop scoring when you are able to. Why would you want to run the ball and not score when you can score and make a more confortable lead, maybe take some weight off the deffense and let the second team play. If they score, good for them afterall that's the point of the game, whoever scores the most win. So let the patriots play, as long as they don't break the rules there's no reason for anyone to complain.
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Fredd Volvo about 1 year ago
Have we seen today's score?
The Pat's had a job to do.
They went out and did it.
Against a team like the Colts, I would not have expected anything else.
As I have said before, the only number that means anything is the W-L
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Chris Allen about 1 year ago
I personally think yhat you are just sad because your team lost to the Patriots, and they are the ultimate team, so they blow all the other teams away.
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Chris Radez about 1 year ago
who are you talking to? Did you even read the article?
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Roy MacB about 1 year ago
We all found out who is the real " BEST TEAM in the NFL " and it's not the " COLTS "
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