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John Harbaugh thinks ‘deceptive’ Patriots cheated; Tom Brady says to learn the rules

By Hayden Kane

Jan 10, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (L) shakes hand with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (R) after their 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 35-31. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (L) shakes hand with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (R) after their 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 35-31. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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Baltimore Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh was not happy with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots after his team’s Divisional loss in the NFL playoffs.

Call it sour grapes if you want, but John Harbaugh did not like an apparent adjustment made by Bill Belichick and the Patriots last night in Baltimore’s 35-31 loss to New England.

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Call it the victor enjoying the spoils, but Tom Brady didn’t mind saying that Harbaugh needs to grow up and learn the rules.

Here’s what happened: in the first half of the AFC Divisional match-up between the Ravens and Patriots, Baltimore’s pass rush was getting home again and again. Brady spent much of the half on his rear end and the Ravens looked to have a decided advantage in that area.

It was at that point that the Patriots decided to get creative with their offensive formations and substitutions. Chris Wesseling of NFL.com explains:

"Counteracting a ferocious first-half pass rush, the Patriots called a change-up in the third quarter, aligning four blockers on the line of scrimmage with another player checking in as an ineligible receiver……On one play, running back Shane Vereen didn’t alert the officials to his ineligibility until just before the snap."

To the surprise of nobody, it appears that Bill Belichick found a way to confuse opponents, within the confines of the rules at least to the extent that no penalties were ever called during the game. As for Harbaugh, he attributed the lack of penalties to confusion on the part of the officials.

“It’s not something that anybody has ever done before,” Harbaugh said, via NFL.com. “They’re an illegal type of a thing and I’m sure that (the league will) make some adjustments and things like that.”

Illegal type of thing…the league will make adjustments and things like that…those accusations are pretty vague, John. That seems to suggest that Harbaugh was venting some frustrations rather than making any informed claims about the rules being broken.

Tom Brady was not impressed with the comments from Harbaugh and was unapologetic about the tactics used by his team. “Maybe those guys gotta study the rule book and figure it out,” Brady said, via NFL.com. “We obviously knew what we were doing and we made some pretty important plays. It was a real good weapon for us. Maybe we’ll have something in store next week.”

Oh boy, what great news for whichever team advances to face the Patriots in the AFC Championship game.

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