Salisbury made a real fool out of himself in that segement.

yeah and hes a former qb...

Right, and the arguement of the Colts coming back in the second half of their playoff win over the Pats doesn't hold alot of water either. The Colts D was hugely responsible for that comeback. You can't steal offensive plays as easily because of the QB helmet radio thing. If you can't see how big of an advantage this is, then there is no way to explain it to you. Also, as mentioned probably a million times already. It is NOT against the rules to try to steal signals, it IS against the rules to videotape them. As also mentioned before, it is not as big of a deal for games played, it's a big deal because they can use the tape to learn defenses for the next time they face that opponent.

Nothing sucks more than agreeing with Skip Bayless on anything!

There is alleged cheating, and there are cheaters. The big difference is the cheaters got caught.

Patriots Cheated.
But before we strip them of the win vs NYJ... and all of thier draft picks... and 3 SuperBowl titles....and suspend the coach for half a season, let us reflect:

A) The Jets and others knew that the Patriots have always done this, Herm Edwards said that when he was with the Jets, his coaches used to waive at the camera and mouth "Hi Bill!". The Packers made it known that the Pats were doing this last year as well. The only possable reason this was never taken any further is either the teams didn't think this was a big deal... or, they were doing the same thing to some extent. (or both)

B) How much of an advantage could you possably get even if you did know the signals.... when there are up to 3 people, 2 "dummy" and 1 "actual" signal caller on every play. Your still guessing no matter what.

C) I've heard at least one offensive player (Hines Ward PIT?) state that "yeah, it seemed like the Patriots knew what we were tring to do"... hey Sherlock, you do realize that your offensive plays arnt signaled in by hand? All these teams complaining need to focus on the fact that the Patriots defense was responsable for shutting your teams down... and this had nothing to do with "stealing signals".

D) If there were such an advantage to stealing signals, wouldn't the Patriots have a Colts type offense? Or will they now become the Cleavland Browns without this advantage? I hope the Patriots crush the mighty Chargers this weekend so everyone will see how silly this whole ordeal is.

Belechick and the Patriots should be and will be punnished... but not to the extent some are talking about. I'd be shocked if it were more than a 2nd rd draft pick. (More likely a 4th) This will be enugh to deter anyone else from doing this again since the miniscule advantage this activity would give you does not warant the risk.

THEN WHY DO IT? I can understand that you are a masshole and cant look past your glorious pats but if it has no advantage then why is bill doing it... CHEATING IS CHEATING. Please dont come here and say they were entitled to cheat because others knew it was happening. They are not the colts because brady isnt peyton and they havent had a reciever close to even dallas clark before this year.

I am just syaing it is blown out of proportion. Yes they video taped, yes they could use for future reference even though smart teams will change signals by the time they play eachother again. The advantage is very little and will show after half time - are there many games where patriots miraculously score lots more points than first half? I am not upset about loss to colts - it was extremely lucky for the Pats to make through the Chargers; I was just saying that the colts had a major comeback (due to their defense too) and no one questioned that. Mayeb there should be a league wide investigation and get those other cheaters out in the open - by that time I bet no coaches/players will say "they have been doing it for years" or "they are cheaters and show no class"

What's sad is, as a Pats fan, this doesn't bother you one bit.

quite a debate in here!

Look. the rules are the rules. We give 4 game suspensions to players who unknowingly (I know that sometimes they know and say they didn't know, but still I'm sure there are times when they legitimately don't know) get suspended for taking an over the counter prescription that happens to contain an illegal substance. So how can we not make a big deal about a guy who KNOWINGLY broke the rules. Folks, don't forget, the commish prior to the offseason made a big deal about not cheating and in WEEK 1 Bill gets caught using video devices. What a total disregard of the rules and more importantly what a total lack of respect for the league and the commish. This commish just made a monster statement on PacMan Jones and on Chris Henry. If the coaches are to be held to a higher standard, how can BB get a less severe punishment. In the coaching of professional sports, what's worse than cheating?

This brought me to tears!

anyone that has played for or worked with Belechick knows that he will look for, and use, anything he can to give his team even a one hundredth of a percent better chance of winning. (not to mention that he likes to mess with Mangini's little mind)

I missed the part where someone said the Patriots are entitled to cheat. I do recall posting multiple times that the Patriots Cheated... and should be punished.

Or maybe the real scandal is that, as a self-professed Patriots fan, you are repeatedly messing up the spelling of your head coach's name in this thread.

NEWS FLASH: It's spelled Bill Belichick

Trying to defend obvious cheating as being 'not that bad' is making me angry enough at Pats fans right now. Try to work a little harder to convince me that New England isn't fraud-ish because right now... with steroids being delivered, video cheating, apologist fans who cant spell their HC's name... its not exactly helping.

now you have an issue with spelling?
I think I'm wasting my time then.
When the ruling comes down with a "slap on the wrist" you will all see what a "non-issue" this all is.
The Patriots will continue on their winning ways and Mangeni will have to find some other means to camoflage his embarasing loses.

Exactly my problem. A slap on the wrist makes this a non-issue. So what stops every team in the league from using video devices. There is a rule, Goodell emphasized it in the offseason and in week one BB broke it. If coaches only get a slap on the wrist for breaking the rules, why make the rules at all?

i was just thinking back to when troy brown was playing some nickelback and when the defense was banged up and the pats won the SB dispite all that. Maybe thats the desperation that caused BB to begin this pathetic cheating practice.

I agree, it is likely going to be a slap on the wrist. That's what's bothering me. It IS A VERY BIG DEAL.

For this to be handled correctly, in my opinion, the game would have to be lifted from them. Loss of their first pick, and the corresponding cap money, and a 5 game suspension for the cheater. Anything short of this would be a slap on the wrist. It's just my opinion. I personally feel pro sports has no place for guys like this. You know......guys like Pete Rose.

It is one thing to look for a competitive edge within the rules, which seems to be the case on most teams. But to blantently break the rules of the game to gain your competitive edge, that is just unethical and total disregard to the game and its fans. When players take weight gainer to get bigger its just a guy trying to gain a competitive edge. When they take illegal substances thats a different story. They are breaking the rules to gain a competitive edge. There is no difference here. That being said, anything less than a 4 game suspension for Bellychick would be an insult to all fans intelligence and a mockery of the sport. Especially taking into consideration on how much money is pumped into this sport, advertising, NFL signature gear, ticket sales, TV contracts, Sports betting (the legal kind in vegas...heh). If the punishment doesnt fit the crime here I think you could see a backlash of some if not all of these sources. The NFL has built up a pretty decent reputation as being the top sport in dealing with illegal substances, why not back that up with some harsh punishment for cheating in other areas of the game?