2025-2026 NFL Season Thread

[DoubleDownAgain]

Originally Posted by Ray O. Blu

After they reinflated the balls to the "proper pressure", the Patriots kicked the crap out of 'em.
Who cares about this? Let it die!

It isn't about how big of a competitive advantage the Pats received because they cheated. It is about members of their organization cheated and attempted to cover it up. Do I think the SB should be stripped? Of course not, but I do believe those involved should be punished. I don't think the club itself should face any punishment, only if they were found not to have co-operated fully with the investigation. I think a fine and 1 or 2 game suspension for Brady is appropriate. Make a statement, if you attempt to cheat there will be consequences. I agree it's a bit silly to get suspended over something as silly as slightly deflated football, but clearly Brady knew what he was involved in was wrong or he wouldn't have lied about it.

The report also got issued today. I'm sure it will die down and fade away once the punishments get handed down, if any. I think most people were expecting it much sooner, a month or two ago. It will fade away soon enough. But will linger enough to tarnish Brady's reputation forever. He's still a first ballot HOF QB, in the conversation for best ever. But now this will be a sidenote, that he was found to be a liar and a cheat.

Originally Posted by Ray O. Blu

Next they'll be investigating how the Patriots got such a good draft pick in the first round. Did they coerce all the other teams to make it happen?

Good to see that the Straw Man response is alive and well on the internet.

[TitansFan4Life]

Brady will be suspended one game. He'll appeal and win.

[Moviefan1203]

Mike Florio is speculating that the reason the NFL went so soft on Cleveland and Atlanta was in case the Wells report was really damning like this. He thinks the NFL can be lenient with New England now, and they wouldn't have to be accused of showing favoritism. I disagree with Florio a lot, but he might be into something with that thought process.

[DoubleDownAgain]

A good article at ESPN, pretty much nails my thoughts on the matter.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by DoubleDownAgain

It isn't about how big of a competitive advantage the Pats received because they cheated. It is about members of their organization cheated and attempted to cover it up. Do I think the SB should be stripped? Of course not, but I do believe those involved should be punished. I don't think the club itself should face any punishment, only if they were found not to have co-operated fully with the investigation. I think a fine and 1 or 2 game suspension for Brady is appropriate. Make a statement, if you attempt to cheat there will be consequences. I agree it's a bit silly to get suspended over something as silly as slightly deflated football, but clearly Brady knew what he was involved in was wrong or he wouldn't have lied about it.

The report also got issued today. I'm sure it will die down and fade away once the punishments get handed down, if any. I think most people were expecting it much sooner, a month or two ago. It will fade away soon enough. But will linger enough to tarnish Brady's reputation forever. He's still a first ballot HOF QB, in the conversation for best ever. But now this will be a sidenote, that he was found to be a liar and a cheat.

Jerry Rice is a cheat too yet no one cares.

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by Hatter

Jerry Rice is a cheat too yet no one cares.

Y'know who else is? Every team in the NFL. Everyone who wants to curse a team/player, call them tarnished, or put asterisks by their accolades has almost certainly turned around and sang the praises of some other cheater: yourteamcheats.com.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by Musashi

Y'know who else is? Every team in the NFL. Everyone who wants to curse a team/player, call them tarnished, or put asterisks by their accolades has almost certainly turned around and sang the praises of some other cheater: yourteamcheats.com.

Yeah..... so, while that stuff might be true, it's clearly got a skewed scoring system.

"Noisegate" is deemed a 5/5 and "SuckforLuckgate" a 4.5, but "Bountygate" is a 2.5, "Spygate" is a 2, and "Deflategate" is a 1.5.

[Tony208]

Originally Posted by sycro

Yeah..... so, while that stuff might be true, it's clearly got a skewed scoring system.

"Noisegate" is deemed a 5/5 and "SuckforLuckgate" a 4.5, but "Bountygate" is a 2.5, "Spygate" is a 2, and "Deflategate" is a 1.5.

lol what... bountygate is easily a 6/5, it was dirty hit after dirty hit on the qb and obvious to anyone with eyes

[DoubleDownAgain]

Originally Posted by Musashi

Y'know who else is? Every team in the NFL. Everyone who wants to curse a team/player, call them tarnished, or put asterisks by their accolades has almost certainly turned around and sang the praises of some other cheater: yourteamcheats.com.

Love the "everyone else is doing it...." defense.

If someone, anyone is found to cheat then they should face the consequences for their actions.

Are you saying Brady and those involved should not face any punishment because "everyone else cheats too"?

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by DoubleDownAgain

Love the "everyone else is doing it...." defense.

If someone, anyone is found to cheat then they should face the consequences for their actions.

Are you saying Brady and those involved should not face any punishment because "everyone else cheats too"?

You know they are really squirming when that is their best defense.

[rickah88]

LOL! Have fun with Twitter McCoy Buffalo. Now Rex Ryan said he's going to let players speak their minds... Implosion in 3...2...1...

I've always said McCoy is a talented back, but his mouth and social media will be his downfall. He just can't lay off it.

[fatediesel]

La'el Collins is reportedly signing with the Cowboys. I'm a little surprised as they don't have a big need and I thought he'd go somewhere that he could potentially start right away, although may he could end up as the left guard this year and then move to right tackle after a year or two as Doug Free is getting fairly old.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by rickah88

LOL! Have fun with Twitter McCoy Buffalo. Now Rex Ryan said he's going to let players speak their minds... Implosion in 3...2...1...

I've always said McCoy is a talented back, but his mouth and social media will be his downfall. He just can't lay off it.

He can talk all he wants as long as he produces on the field. I have no problems with players being who they are. As long as you bring it on game day, I'm a happy camper.

[dcowboy7]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

La'el Collins is reportedly signing with the Cowboys.

hardy, gregory, collins....maybe we will be getting peterson.

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by DoubleDownAgain

Love the "everyone else is doing it...." defense.

If someone, anyone is found to cheat then they should face the consequences for their actions.

Are you saying Brady and those involved should not face any punishment because "everyone else cheats too"?

Quite the contrary. But nice straw man.

What I AM saying is that if my team gets asterisks, so does yours. But if you get to claim 'fair and square' on your team's accolades, so do we. And if you get to curse my team 5 ways to next Tuesday over a finding of "probably", then I get to curse yours too on any similar findings. Either we both get the benefit of the doubt / burden of proof defense or nobody does.

Not that it matters. I'd be shocked out of my mind if anyone ever changed their fandom on account of their team being mentioned in yet another scandal.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

He can talk all he wants as long as he produces on the field. I have no problems with players being who they are. As long as you bring it on game day, I'm a happy camper.

Oh it's going to be a very interesting Philly/Buffalo game.
Hopefully he works out for you guys, but with Ryan taking that stance it just sounds like a recipe for disaster. The Head Coach, IMO, shouldn't be an enabler in this type of situation.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by dcowboy7

hardy, gregory, collins....maybe we will be getting peterson.

To be fair from all appearances it looks like Collins had nothing to do with the death of his ex-girlfriend and her unborn child. Collins has an alibi at the time of the murder, he passed a polygraph test, and it's been shown the child wasn't his.

Obviously Collins is losing a ton of money by not being the first round pick he was projected to be, but the contract he got was much better than most late round draft picks will get. If he had been drafted he would have had to sign a 4-year contract and wouldn't be eligible for a new contract until after his 3rd year. By going undrafted he only has to sign a 3-year deal, at which point he'd be a restricted free agent, and he'll be eligible for a new contract after 2 seasons, so he could potentially get paid sooner than most draft picks. The Cowboys are also guaranteeing his entire 3-year, $1.65 million deal, whereas most late round picks don't get near that guarantee.

[DoubleDownAgain]

Originally Posted by Musashi

Quite the contrary. But nice straw man.

What I AM saying is that if my team gets asterisks, so does yours. But if you get to claim 'fair and square' on your team's accolades, so do we. And if you get to curse my team 5 ways to next Tuesday over a finding of "probably", then I get to curse yours too on any similar findings. Either we both get the benefit of the doubt / burden of proof defense or nobody does.

Not that it matters. I'd be shocked out of my mind if anyone ever changed their fandom on account of their team being mentioned in yet another scandal.

Where did I say that "my team" shouldn't be punished? I said just the opposite. "My team" isn't perfect nor have I ever claimed "my team" is above reproach. If "My team" is found out to be cheating they should be punished just like any other team.

What punishment, if any, do you believe Brady & the Patriots receive over this incident?

[DoubleDownAgain]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

To be fair from all appearances it looks like Collins had nothing to do with the death of his ex-girlfriend and her unborn child. Collins has an alibi at the time of the murder, he passed a polygraph test, and it's been shown the child wasn't his.

Obviously Collins is losing a ton of money by not being the first round pick he was projected to be, but the contract he got was much better than most late round draft picks will get. If he had been drafted he would have had to sign a 4-year contract and wouldn't be eligible for a new contract until after his 3rd year. By going undrafted he only has to sign a 3-year deal, at which point he'd be a restricted free agent, and he'll be eligible for a new contract after 2 seasons, so he could potentially get paid sooner than most draft picks. The Cowboys are also guaranteeing his entire 3-year, $1.65 million deal, whereas most late round picks don't get near that guarantee.

I was hoping the Fins wold sign him... I don't really get the sentiment of not signing him right away. If you know the facts at hand it doesn't appear to have been involved. If he does you can easily rid of him at almost no cost. I wonder if any other team actually made any offers? Sounds like most teams wanted to wait for him to be officially cleared.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by DoubleDownAgain

What punishment, if any, do you believe Brady & the Patriots receive over this incident?

I think a Super Bowl ring that looks similar to this should do the trick: