2014 Playoff game - Patriots Ineligible Receiver Shenanigans

[Tank 92]

Yeah, Belicheat is a great coach, no doubt. But his "mastery of the rule book" is nothing more than a very loose ethical standard that is shared from the owner down. And the fans don't care because they win. They just look the other way and rationalize that everyone is out to get them and are jealous. lol They even have the tractor that pushed the snow away for the infamous FG in some sort of fan experience museum. They like that they cheat! Pretty sad really.

[The Mom Gene]

This seems to be so obvious and I continually find it amazing that these scum bags continue to get away with pretty much anything.

Absolutely... and Continually... Time And Time Again... 

[Ravenseconbeast]

I want the pats to hand out their draft picks to the colts & to the ravens. Its the only way to keep these cheatriots on bay for another 10years. Otherwise the cheats can fly to wwe's xfl and skirt all the rules they want to as much as they please.

[cursona pirate]

It just sucks that we had to get hit with that play for it to FINALLY be discussed in the GM meetings. 

 

I mean the Browns did some weird stuff last year with Johnny in the start of the year. Pretending he is on the sideline.

Edited March 23, 2015 by cursona pirate

[Tenacious Faulker]

Exploiting the rules like that is more thn just shady.  Not playing to the spirit of the rules and using their lack of explicit definition is to me it a clear intent to cheat.  Otherwise, if he could beat the Ravens without the use of deceit he would've.  And to be clear it wasn;t just the Ravens that BB was tricking, it was the refs and by proxy, the league.  

 

I felt this should've been dealt with more harshly at the time because if one team gets away with it then other will attempt similar hijinks.  Then every weekend the league has to investigate some cheat or another which will errode fan confidence and eventaully and irreparably hurt the brand.  As it is it, was "nice" of Harbaugh to handle it this way rather than rant an rave at the time to force some immediate punitive measure on BB.  

 

He certainly could've raised a big stink about it but he did the professional thing and STILL Pats fans are calling HIM a whiner - pretty hypocritcal from from the fanbase of a team that gave us the Tuck Rule.

[Ravenseconbeast]

It just sucks that we had to get hit with that play for it to FINALLY be discussed in the GM meetings.

I mean the Browns did some weird stuff last year with Johnny in the start of the year. Pretending he is on the sideline.

If patriots made that move...the refs would've gave him a TD and espn would hailed the play as "the greatest play in the century". Edited March 23, 2015 by Ravenseconbeast

[JoeyFlex5]

If patriots made that move...the refs would've gave him a TD and espn would hailed the play as "the greatest play in the century".

they probably had it up their sleeves until the browns tried it and the rules committee announced that it was illegal lol

[ravensdfan]

So now it is banned, proof that the Patriots acted outside the spirit of the rules and the stated intent of the rules.

 

Cheaters. Its official.

[codizzle]

"Cheated"... Sure

They still won and we stil blew it.. No way we should've lost that game after being up like we were

Sigh

[CTFan]

I'm glad the rule has been modified. This doesn't say the Patriots cheated, but it does say that what they did should not have been permitted. In a sense it validates Harbaughs beef. 

 

I guess finding "loopholes" makes you either a cheater, or a genius; depends on whether it was your coach or the opposing coach who did it. Too bad sportsmanship and fair play didn't outweigh finding a loophole.

[52520Andrew]

They found a loophole to the rule and it is now closed, basically they had to dig that deep in their playbooks to beat us with a practice squad secondary in Foxborough. We're going to crush them when we meet again

Edited March 25, 2015 by 52520Andrew

[Alexir]

I don't know why every idiot in the world thinks Harbaugh is a sore loser for complaining about this. It had nothing to do with the Pats, it was the ref's not reporting in correctly...

[Static]

Pats are cheaters and they will find another way to cheat.

[JoeyFlex5]

its not stupid logic, its always been illegal, they just outsmarted the refs because there was no specific rule deeming this illegal, leaving the refs confused, even though these tactics broke the rules which generally outline deception and trickery. 
 
its a broad rule and it is there to keep the games fair, the general rule is "do not use blatant deception", otherwise no team in the league would just line up and play ball, there would be bendings of the rule book in every game and the refs would be scratching their heads wondering whether or not they should throw the flag. next thing you know there wouldnt be enough paper in the world to write the entire nfl rule book. 
 
not to mention they declared an eligible and an ineligible, a timeout was called and they lined back up without re-announcing their eligbilities, which means the TE who lined up at the tackle position was an ineligible receiver and he still ran a route. THAT specifically is illegal, and has rules on it in the book, thats 5 yard illegal formation but the refs were so baffled by what they were witnessing they didnt know how to respond, but its the patriots so they figure its best to let them get away with it.

[Tank 92]

It's a shame they had to change the rule becuase of scum bag cheaters.

 

You can say they didn't violate it all you want, but the fact is that the rule was written in the first place to prevent deception. Deceiving the refs and in turn the Ravens, was, is and always will be cheating.

[redrum52]

I hate the Patriots too, but come on. They didn't cheat(in this situation) and the truth is, our beef should be more with the officials because I think they are the ones who missed infractions. It is what is is. Defense gave up two big leads and the pick a the end with plenty of time left. With everything that was happening, the team still controlled their fate and failed.

[ratedr]

I don't know why every idiot in the world thinks Harbaugh is a sore loser for complaining about this. It had nothing to do with the Pats, it was the ref's not reporting in correctly...

The Ravens weren't even the ones who proposed the rule change. According to Jeff Fisher a lot of coaches had issues with the tactic. Rooney (a STEELER) agreed. And clearly so did the competition committee.

 

It's hilarious hearing Patriots fans whine about the "whining Ravens" though. The goalposts are each 5 feet higher than they were a few years ago. I'm sure they remember why. Hypocrites.

[shawn ny]

I want to know if Kraft voted for the rule or against it....

[Inqui]

I hate the Patriots too, but come on. They didn't cheat(in this situation) and the truth is, our beef should be more with the officials because I think they are the ones who missed infractions. It is what is is. Defense gave up two big leads and the pick a the end with plenty of time left. With everything that was happening, the team still controlled their fate and failed.

Yeah, it's more about a sketchy rule and some terrible enforcing.

 

But that said, between that, Spygate, the Tuck Rule, Ballgahzi and probably a raft of smaller-scale things I've forgotten, there's one team that has a storied history of taking advantage of how things are officiated. And the owners clearly agreed what they did was outside the spirit of the rules this time.

[Static]

I cant wait till Tammy Brandy and Billy Bellychecks stop existing in the realm of football and the pats suck again. But by that time the "patriots" "fans" will have new teams.

[Ravenseconbeast]

Belicheat should've been long gone when he was caught the first time. The stench of his cheating is now creeping toward NFL and its now slowly becoming a joke.

Football's 'greatest' coach..yeah NFL isn't going to around for too long if he is the symbol of greatness.

[redrum52]

Yeah, it's more about a sketchy rule and some terrible enforcing.

But that said, between that, Spygate, the Tuck Rule, Ballgahzi and probably a raft of smaller-scale things I've forgotten, there's one team that has a storied history of taking advantage of how things are officiated. And the owners clearly agreed what they did was outside the spirit of the rules this time.

I don't disagree, but people here make it our to seem as that's what beat us. Poor tackling and bad coverage is mostly to blame for that loss. Any chance I get to discredit those guys I'll take, but they won. It does say something that the Steelers and Ravens brass agree on this one though And others have chimed in saying something similar. I think it was Mike Zimmer who said something about it as well, a few days after the game.

[Maryland]

Justice/Karma 

[Static]

Where is our reparations? Its clear that they cheated this game and the colts game.

 

They've probably been doing this since 2006 or so

[ravensnick]

Where is our reparations? Its clear that they cheated this game and the colts game.

 

They've probably been doing this since 2006 or so

Let's be honest here. Cheating is cheating. What the Pats did was wrong and deserved to be punished. That being said: no evidence they actually did anything to the balls in our game. And they completely stomped the Colts, the balls didn't even play a factor in that game. You can only punish them for what they can prove.

Edited May 12, 2015 by ravensnick