Watch out NFL: Deflategate makes the Patriots the most dangerous team in the League
By Andrew Garda
The decision to overturn Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s suspension makes them the most dangerous teams in the NFL this season.
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You know how people say to never approach a cornered animal, especially if it’s hurt?
The New England Patriots are that cornered animal here and the NFL, as a whole, would be better off if they gave them a wide berth.
That won’t happen, because it’s NFL season, schedules are set and there is no changing that now. Everyone on the Patriots’ schedule had better strap on with some extra athletic tape when they meet the Pats, as they are sure to be angry, something that only makes them more dangerous.
Everybody – other NFL teams, fans of those teams and curious bystanders – can thank the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell for this state of affairs. Whether or not you believe any particular side when it comes to ‘Deflategate’ is irrelevant. What matters is, the Patriots feel slighted, and that’s a dangerous thing.
The last time this happened—‘Spygate’ in 2007—the Patriots went undefeated during the regular season, losing on a last minute, fluky play to the New York Giants. The next year, when Tom Brady went down in the first game with a knee injury and everyone thought the team was finished, the team went 11-5 (though admittedly didn’t win the division or make the playoffs).
Last season, just a few games in we saw Tom Brady struggling and many people thought the team was finished. But they circled the wagons, got their act together and played some tremendous football on their way to a 12-4 record and their fourth Super Bowl victory in the last 15 years.
So here we are, poised to begin the 2015 NFL season. Everyone in the organization is frustrated, even owner Robert Kraft, who is normally a staunch league ally. Kraft has been upset from the beginning, and openly frustrated, something you don’t tend to see from any owner, much less Kraft.
Tom Brady has also been visibly angered by the whole debacle, launching a Facebook tirade in late July defending himself against the NFL’s charges.
Again, you don’t have to believe him, or Kraft or anyone in a Patriots jersey. What’s important is they believe. The team has once again gathered around a rallying point—in this case Brady—and will use that as a focus to push themselves harder than ever this season.
For Brady, this is about legacy. Don’t for a minute think that he isn’t keenly aware that many people—fans, press—are now looking at his career sideways. Between this and the taping incident, people are wondering if Brady is as good as he appears or if it is all literally smoke and mirrors.
Brady knows this and he will come out sharp this season. Suspension or no, just the fact that he was suspended in the first place will be enough for him to raise his already tremendous level of football up even higher.
Of course, as Brady goes, so go the Patriots. Every player knows that the same people who doubt Brady might be looking at their new Super Bowl win as tainted. Did they deserve it? Could they have won without a deflated ball? What if…?
Forget whether you think the ball was deflated, whether it was intentional or whether it made a difference—the Patriots believe that someone, somewhere thinks that. And of course, there are people who do.
Again, it’s a matter of perspective and from New England’s point of view, they are doubted and disrespected.
This is a team with some obvious flaws. A defense which lost Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, two big reasons for their success in the playoffs. They have a quarterback who certainly is a step slower, and right now what appears to be a battered wide receiver corps. They just signed an over-the-hill Reggie Wayne to a one-year contract, while Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell have not practiced with the team all camp.
On top of it all, they have a tough schedule and are in a division that is much more difficult than it has been in some time. If nobody is quite ready to take the AFC East crown from the Patriots yet, that doesn’t mean they won’t have to fight their way through the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets.
On top of all that, most teams have a bit of a letdown after they win a Super Bowl. Teams like the Seattle Seahawks are the exception. So the Patriots have to contend with that as well.
In other words, it won’t be easy.
Still, it wasn’t easy in 2008 when Tom Brady went down and Matt Cassel stepped in with zero starting experience, including in college. It wasn’t easy when they were disciplined for ‘Spygate’ and went undefeated in the regular season.
This is a team which plays better with a chip on its collective shoulder though and they have one the size of Massachusetts.
If I were the rest of the NFL, I’d be sure to expect one of the better seasons from a team that is fired up to prove all the doubters wrong.
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