Did the Patriots "cheat" yesterday to win?

[Renegade]

It appears as if Harbaugh feels the Touchdown pass Edelman was illegal and is saying the Patriots cheated. I don't see anything wrong with this. How does CP feel about?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/...ons/ar-AA81s9H

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by milkman

The ref pointed at Vereen as the Pats are lining upand snapping the ball.

If an ineligible player reports as eligible, the ref announces that over the pa sytem prior to a team lining up to snap the ball.

The same should be required for this.

The ref announced the player. The league will look into whether it should have been done better. But, regardless, the issue here isn't the Patriots "cheating", because they didn't. The Patriots did nothing wrong. That probably won't matter, because nothing's going to change the outcome of the game. New England won fairly and the Ravens cried "Deception!".

Now, the same idiots who still claim that the Patriots were found guilty of taping walk throughs will add this to their arsenal of incorrect cheating "facts".

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

The ref announced the player. The league will look into whether it should have been done better. But, regardless, the issue here isn't the Patriots "cheating", because they didn't. The Patriots did nothing wrong. That probably won't matter, because nothing's going to change the outcome of the game. New England won fairly and the Ravens cried "Deception!".

Now, the same idiots who still claim that the Patriots were found guilty of taping walk throughs will add this to their arsenal of incorrect cheating "facts".

Not me. I like what they did yesterday.

Spygate?

No. That was cheating.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

The ref announced the player. The league will look into whether it should have been done better. But, regardless, the issue here isn't the Patriots "cheating", because they didn't. The Patriots did nothing wrong. That probably won't matter, because nothing's going to change the outcome of the game. New England won fairly and the Ravens cried "Deception!".

Now, the same idiots who still claim that the Patriots were found guilty of taping walk throughs will add this to their arsenal of incorrect cheating "facts".

I didn't say Bellichik cheated, dipshit.

I said that inellgible receivers should be handled in the same manner as elible receivers.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Now, the same idiots who still claim that the Patriots were found guilty of taping walk throughs will add this to their arsenal of incorrect cheating "facts".

Even recognizing that in all likelihood they didn't film the Rams walkthrough, it's still bullshit to suggest they didn't cheat all before 2007 and that the 3 SBs were all won without cheating.

[milkman]

And the ref "announced" the player by pointing at him just seconds before the snap.

That's a piss poor job by the game officials.

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

Originally Posted by milkman

And the ref "announced" the player by pointing at him just seconds before the snap.

That's a piss poor job by the game officials.

100% Right did it all 3 times too.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by milkman

And the ref "announced" the player by pointing at him just seconds before the snap.

That's a piss poor job by the game officials.

Oh well. Harbaugh is a douche so it's cool.

[SAUTO]

League will review whether Ravens got proper notice of ineligible*player

Posted by Mike Florio on January 11, 2015, 12:05 PM EST

Getty Images
It’s common for players with numbers that make them ineligible to report as eligible and then go down the field and become targets for passes. It’s less common for players with eligible numbers to report to officials as ineligible and then refrain from going down the field of play.

On Saturday night, the Patriots took advantage of the “B” side of the rule that made former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel a periodic tight end. Per a league source, the NFL will now explore whether the officiating crew gave the Ravens proper notice that an eligible Patriots player would be ineligible for a given play.

Running back Shane Vereen, wearing the eligible number 34, lined up split wide from the nearest offensive lineman, but because Vereen was “covered up” by another eligible receiver (i.e., an eligible receiver lined up on the line of scrimmage between Vereen and the sideline), it remained a legal formation. Vereen was, in essence, an offensive tackle with a very wide split from next lineman.

On the other side of the line, tight end Michael Hoomanawanui was on the line of scrimmage tight to the next offensive lineman. But Hoomanawanui remained an eligible receiver with an eligible number.

Vereen was required to report as an ineligible receiver, and he did. Hoomanawanui was not required to do anything.

The confusion apparently came from the configuration of the offensive line and the presence of a slot receiver (lined up behind the line of scrimmage) between Vereen and the next offensive lineman. Although Vereen technically was the right tackle in a five-man offensive line, the center shifted one spot to the right, putting a pair of guards between the center and Vereen. Which created the impression that Vereen was eligible. To the left of the center, there was a guard (who was actually the left tackle) and Hoomanawanui, who appeared to be the left tackle but was actually an eligible tight end.

The Ravens would have (or should have) known that an eligible receiver had reported as ineligible, but the alignment of players suggested that Hoomanawanui and not Vereen was the ineligible receiver.

The Patriots furthered the ruse by having Vereen behave like a potential receiver. At the snap, he back off the line and raised his hands for a screen pass. On the other side of the line, Hoomanawanui took off for a pass from what appeared to be the left tackle position.

Is it deceptive, as Ravens coach John Harbaugh alleged? Sure it is. But so is a play-action pass, a draw play, a flea flicker, a statue of liberty, a lateral pass to a receiver who throws the ball to another receiver, the zone blitz, the fake blitz, the delayed blitz, every pre-snap look aimed at making the opponent think the play is something other than what it will be, a fake punt, a fake field goals, a surprise onside kick from conventional kick formation, and a punt returner pretending the ball is coming to him when it’s actually going to a guy left alone on the other side of the field.

The Vereen-ineligible play is legal, as long as the otherwise eligible player reports as ineligible. Which Vereen did. The question then becomes whether the referee properly informed the Ravens about Vereen’s ineligibility. Which the league will explore.

Even if the referee did what he was supposed to do, the formation and the execution suggested that the referee may have gotten the number wrong, saying 34 when he meant to say 47. Which further underscores the brilliance of the play.

Maybe Rodney Harrison was right. Maybe Bill Belichick really is the greatest coach of all time. After all, Belichick managed to confuse and confound a guy who is destined to end up pretty high on the list of best coaches ever.

[RobBlake]

Originally Posted by GoChargers

It wasn't cheating, but it's pretty funny that Belicheat had to pull out all sorts of desperate trickeration to barely squeak past one of the worst secondaries in football at home. If it was any other team, the media would be writing them off, but since it's the Pats, they've been practically handed the Lombardi already by the media.

Bal is like an NFCW team. They are physical and punch you in the mouth come playoffs.. BAL is a good squad despite record

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by milkman

I didn't say Bellichik cheated, dipshit.

I said that inellgible receivers should be handled in the same manner as elible receivers.

I didn't say you did, you cantankerous old bastard. Learn to ****ing read. At your age, that should already have been done.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

Even recognizing that in all likelihood they didn't film the Rams walkthrough, it's still bullshit to suggest they didn't cheat all before 2007 and that the 3 SBs were all won without cheating.

Try not to be more of an idiot than Milkman. Just go sit down with Warner and have another good cry.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

I didn't say you did, you cantankerous old bastard. Learn to ****ing read. At your age, that should already have been done.

Since you qouted my post with that idiotic homeristic response, the accusation seemed to be implied.

But just ****ing pass by already, and scrub your bleeding vagina with belt sander on the way out.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Try not to be more of an idiot than Milkman. Just go sit down with Warner and have another good cry.

I didn't say they cheated yesterday. I'm just saying you're being ignorant if you don't think that the Patriots performance from 2000-2007 wasn't at all assisted by cheating.

And we get it. Belichick and Bob Kraft are amazing. All of Boston sports are amazing. What else do you want us to read?

[Hootie]

Brady needs another Super Bowl, desperately. Otherwise he'll retire with three asterisks.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Rams Fan

I didn't say they cheated yesterday. I'm just saying you're being ignorant if you don't think that the Patriots performance from 2000-2007 wasn't at all assisted by cheating.

And we get it. Belichick and Bob Kraft are amazing. All of Boston sports are amazing. What else do you want us to read?

Who said anything about Kraft besides you?