It isn't about the play its about the rule they are taking advantage of, they have done it in the past with rushing to the line and snapping the ball before the defence gets set. Is that illegal? No. But, at least in my opinion, it isn't in the definition of playing the game with proper sportsmanship. Again, its a matter of perspective and what you feel is more important: the letter of the law or the spirit of the law. I fall more into the category of "I would prefer to lose honestly than win dishonestly" so to me I think it was unsportsmanlike.
Why is it that the Ravens can never lose without crying about it? It's always either somebody cheated or somebody's a dirty player Shut the fuck up and take the loss like a man. Nobody made you overpay a guy who is going to lob it up for grabs with the game on the line
Basically B.B fount a hole in the program and hacked it to his advantage. Not illegal. Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
The idea that this was cheating or unsportsmanlike is idiotic. Tackle eligible plays are frequently used and have been part of the game for decades. In concept and rule this is not different in any way from a tackle eligible play. The idea that being deceptive is cheating is preposterous. Some of the best plays in football like the fake punt return that St Louis used this year have deception as their basic feature.
How is this bad sportsmanship? The rules allow you to bring in a player with an eligible number and make him ineligible if you go through the proper method, which is announcing it to the ref so he can tell the defense. They did that! When a team is lining up for a FG, do you consider it bad sportsmanship when the team sends a receiver out at the last minute and he goes to the hash mark and waves to the ref so he sees him and they fake the FG and get a TD when the other team didn't know he was out there? It's the NFL, not the boy scouts.
You have never seen 5 receiver set with the x,yorz declare ineligible in the NFL. Last night was the first time it's ever been done. Brilliant maybe, definitely cheap, maybe a little cheat. It's the NFL though, I realize it, any thing goes on any given Sunday; there is no precedent in this league.
Bad sportsmanship is walking/jogging off the field after a loss and not shaking the winning teams hand. You should have seen several examples of this before. Last night was not "bad sportsmanship" it was more like a brand new football formation with a hint of cheating mixed about it. Clever little billy bell, and the New England clam patriots.
Maybe the nfl should let each team look at their opponents controller as they select their play so everybody knows what everyone else is doinf.
All I'm saying is that I don't like when teams abuse rules and find loopholes to their advantage. You'll notice as well that it is frequently the Patriots that are at the heart of these little scenarios which I don't think is a coincidence either. Some chalk that up to BB's genius, I chalk it up to them having a history of trying to get any edge that they can (legal or otherwise) instead of just playing the game they way it is intended: your best players against their best players and seeing who comes out on top. That being said: my team is picking 6th overall in the draft and their team is going to the AFC championship with a shot at getting into and winning a Super Bowl. If people disagree that's fine, we don't all have to agree.
It's whiny and pathetic to complain about that. That was a great offensive football. Let's not cry like ravens fans I would kill to have a team here that is offensively ahead of everyone else. Belichick has cheated in the past but Last nights stuff was fun football not cheating
If the jets did this there would be protest in front of nfl headquarters. Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
What I don't understand is if there was nothing improper, then why the refs then later conceded to giving the Ravens more opportunity to identify and respond to the eligibility changes. Based on Harbaugh's quote below, it seems to me like the refs realized that they screwed up on that series and corrected it going forward. "So the officials told me after that they would give us the opportunity to do that [that meaning have time to ID and respond to the changes in eligibility], which they probably should've done during that series but they didn't really understand what was happening. That's why I had to take the penalty, to get their attention so they would understand what was going on because they didn't understand what was going on."
No it's not. It doesn't matter how many "receivers" there are (There are always five eligible receivers on every play of every down btw). Brilliant - Obviously, it worked. Cheap - No, it's strategy. The Patriots staff is obviously smarter than Harbaugh and the Ravens. Winning is winning as long as it's within the rules. A little cheat - No it's not. Not even close.
I guess it also shows how much the pats feared another defeat by ravens. Something like this I would of exposed later on as well as that later trick play. Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
It wasn't anything close to cheating. Look, I come on the NY Jets forums to see what they are saying about the AFC East, and also to see who the real fans of this team are, because when you get your turn on top the pseudo fans will come out of the woodwork - and it will annoy you the way it annoys me. There were less Patriots fans around in my youth than there are Jets fans today. Most of these Patriot fans were pathetic Giants fans in the '90s. Either way, this wasn't cheating any more than faking a handoff is. To even say it is, is to not understand how football even works. An offensive formation must have 7 players on the line of scrimmage. The ones on the ends are always eligible. Anyone lining up behind the line of scrimmage, is eligible. Not only did the refs announce it but the damn stadium announcer did also. So if the defense STILL didn't get it right, get a smarter defense. It's obvious BB thinks the weakness of the Ravens is mental. This was no "loophole"... it's the same rules Pee Wee Football plays with.
No, the refs should have been giving the Ravens the numbers of the eligible and ineligible players before they allowed the Patriots to snap the ball. This is on the refs for not doing that but the quick snaps which did not allow time for the Ravens to be notified who was eligible should have also been flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, RULE 5, SECTION 2, ARTICLE 11
