The New England Patriots Have Been Revealed! or Have They?

Against the backdrop of a crumbling empire, the New England Patriots stand arrogantly in defiance of the NFL, much like their embattled head coach, Bill Belichick stood before reporters and coldly stonewalled every question about his admitted cheating. Most teams would crumble under the attention. But not the Patriots. Instead they go out and thrash what was considered to be a top level contender for this year's Super Bowl. The Evil Empire is alive and well, and Belichick is laughing at us with a cackle in private.

The New England Patriots have been what was considered to be the "model" franchise for the NFL for many years. Many of the NFL fans secretly wondered what magical powers this team has had to pull out so much success with such an average band of players. They had the superstar quarterback in Brady, and some top level players, but they never really had the best talent on paper. Yet, they won year after year, and no one understood why.

Now comes the other shoe dropping to the floor. The Patriots are caught cheating, and everything makes sense. Or does it? Can the evil empire that is the Patriots be explained away with a simple video camera cheating episode, or is it something else? Well, the Patriots certainly are guilty, and have admitted as much, but how do we explain the thrashing they gave San Diego last night? Quite simply put, the Patriots were obviously the better team, and coached a whole lot better.

I am not a Patriots fan, nor will I ever be. They killed my beloved Panthers dreams with a magnificent Super Bowl showdown, and Tom Brady's arm. I have every reason to hate the Patriots, and well, I do. But the simple fact of the matter is that the Patriots are better than every other team in the league right now, and no video tape made them that way. I would love to trash the evil empire, and watch them burn to the ground.