How the Spygate Story Has Changed the New England Patriots

Here's a simple recipe for going from one of the NFL's Cinderella stories to the evil empire of the league: start with one meaty underdog story, mix in ¾ cup of Super Bowl Championships, add a juicy and controversial story, add spice to taste.

The Patriots can be categorized in those two senses for before and after Spygate: first, they were the Cinderella story, loved and applauded. Then, they were the evil empire, hated and hissed.

Throughout the several years prior to their first Super Bowl win, the Patriots muddled in mediocrity. Having gone 5-11 in the 2000 season, no one could foretell the good fortune that would ensue.

With their star quarterback Drew Bledsoe injured and their backs against the wall, the Patriots were led by no-name Tom Brady to a 5-3 record, before Belichick boldly named Brady his starting quarterback over the Patriots' former starter, and all-time passing leader, Drew Bledsoe

With the Patriots sitting at 5-5, Belichick wasn’t calling the season a wash. He was putting the team in the hands of a young quarterback with a lot of potential.

From there, they went 6-0 in the regular season, and then 3-0 in the playoffs.

At first, everyone was so happy that the Patriots were at the top of the league. Here was a team no one could hate. The Patriots were America’s darlings after 9/11, a fitting team to win the Super Bowl that season.

They showed Americans everywhere that with hard work and dedication, you can overcome a devastating loss.

The Patriots hit a slump the next year, but went right back to their winning ways for two seasons after that. What was once a great underdog story had become the story of a dynasty; continued success in a league where it’s hard to stay on top for a long time.

Then, on Sept. 9, 2007, in a game against the New York Jets, Patriots’ video assistant Matt Estrella was caught on the Jets’ sideline with a camera. It was discovered that he was filming the Jets’ defensive signals.

The story broke, and overwhelmingly changed the perception of the Patriots. From that point on, the Patriots have been guilty until proven innocent. Media scrutiny has fallen heavily on New England.

Especially later, when a false story broke that there may potentially have been tapes of the Rams' Super Bowl XXXVI walk-through.

Hence, the beloved Patriots became the evil empire of the league. NFL fans loved the underdog, but they were jealous of the success, and then they began to hate the "cheaters".

Robert Kraft said it best when Spygate first broke . "When you're successful in anything, a lot of people like to try to take you down and do different things. We understand that."

Before the Spygate story came out, the Patriots’ success was met with praise, and then slight jealousy. Since then, it seems more people want to see the Patriots fail than succeed.

Boy, have they gotten their wish.

In the dynasty years (2001-04), the “football gods” seemed to love the New England Patriots. And since Spygate, those same forces have given the Patriots’ haters plenty of reason to smile.

Take, for instance, the undefeated season that ended with one giant loss .

As if the Patriots' confidence wasn’t already injured from that game, their star quarterback suffered a season-ending knee injury in the very next game he played vs. Kansas City.

After adding injury to insult, further injury was added this past year when pass-catching fiend Wes Welker went down with a similar knee injury in the regular season finale at Houston. It’s still unclear whether he’ll be good to go for the 2010 season opener.

And then, the icing on the cake, the game that many say has killed New England’s dynasty , came when the Patriots reached a new level of playoff futility in a 33-14 shellacking by the Baltimore Ravens: they went one-and-done for the first time in the playoffs under Belichick and Brady, in what was also the duo’s first-ever home playoff loss.

Yeah, anyone outside of New England’s fan-base has probably been pretty pleased with the series of unfortunate events for the Patriots.

The Patriots’ win-loss record in the playoffs before the Spygate story broke was a whopping 12-2. Since then, they’ve gone a somber 2-2.

In Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots fought the Rams’ talent with sheer muscle. They pulled off the monumental upset. They were America’s darlings.

In Super Bowl XLII, the Giants gave the Patriots a taste of their own medicine. The finesse Patriots were out-muscled by the grimy Giants. They, too, became America's darlings.

That's quite the tragic role reversal for New England.

But wait...could anything good have come of Spygate?

What good could possibly come from such a damaging story?

Well, they proved what with 18 straight wins: motivation.

When everyone is criticizing a football team, and their backs are against the wall, the team is driven to go out there and prove everyone wrong, and show what they’re made of.

Athletes always feed off anyone who doubts them. They use it as motivation to prove everyone wrong. Football players especially take great pride in the work they do on the field. See, for example, the 38-14 drubbing the Patriots laid on the Chargers the week after the story initially broke.

Even though the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, they disproved the notion that they gained a competitive edge in games. Even without the tapes, they were still able to win 18 games in a row.

But with almost all of the players from the dynasty years now gone, the Patriots’ enormous sense of team pride is almost entirely gone with them.

And with the roster mostly turned over from the 2007 season, the Patriots no longer have the chip-on-the-shoulder attitude from Spygate.

Belichick, though, has a permanent chip on his shoulder from that whole incident, now taking every opportunity to rub it in his doubter’s and critic’s collective face.

Does 59-0 sound familiar?

Ever since Spygate made people question Belichick's ability as a coach, it seems that he's out to prove that he’s got nothing to prove.

One thing is for certain: it hasn’t changed Belichick’s confidence in his team, nor his mentality on answering to the media.

The week after the infamous 4th-and-2 against the Colts, and all the scrutiny and questions that followed , Belichick went for it on 4th-and-1 against the Dolphins.

Even if fans of other teams don't trust Belichick, the Patriots mantra remains the same: in Belichick we trust.