Whenever someone brings this point up, I ask them this question: If it were any other sport, or any other team for that matter, would this even be an issue? Say the Celtics are killing the Wizards tonight- up 50 points by the third quarter (yes, I am a dreamer) should the defense just pack it in? Should the offense? Should they put Mike Gorman in? NO, they play the remaining quarter and score points. You play till the whistle blows or end of regulation. Period.
bravo, very well done. i'm psyched to see pats fans start to get pissed off. it just heightens the excitement for this sunday's game. and like you, i DEFINITELY can't wait to see some actual football.
AMEN ! is what I have to say.
the Patriots are playing out of their minds - Brady has the weapons he's never had before and he is utilizing them - WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS WRONG WITH THAT ?
ENJOY IT ! 
Okay, as you know, I don't really follow the NFL much. Is all the bitching about the Pats running up the score coming from fans and/or pundits, or from opposing players? I'm guessing mostly the former? Because, while I'm willing to admit the mentality may be quite different for professional athletes than for amateurs who have no championship aspirations, I always appreciated getting to continue to challenge myself (ourselves) against the best the other team had to offer, even if the game was completely out of reach for us. In fact, when we were getting crushed, it was kind of nice in a way to keep playing hard without the frustration and the pressure to win, and we could try out some things that might have been too risky in a close game. You don't get better playing against the less-skilled players.
i'm seconding that amen. i read that eric wilbur column the other day and i wholeheartedly agree - it's funny how no one complained about the colts when they were a few years back exactly what the pats are doing now.
people just love to bag on the pats. i don't really get it. i'll be the first to say i'm not a huge football fan (i'm more about baseball) and my fandom for the pats is more about the fact that i grew up in boston and therefore, i'm just sort of expected to like them. but over the past few years, i've started to pay a little more attention (most likely because of your blog, actually) - and it's really, reallly irritating when people out here in cali are like, "oh whatever, the pats are so ruining the game with their disrespect for other teams. they're like the yankees of the football league."
first of all, yeah. don't ever compare us to the yankees. and um, hello? this isn't t-ball. they're supposed to play to win. if your team can't hack it, well, it's not our team's fault, is it? if our frikkin quarterback is scoring touchdowns, methinks the problem is really with your defense, not the fact that our team is so good that they're ratcheting up scores more common in basketball.
but i'm just telling you what you already know. i'll be curious to see what happens this weekend. i can't handle much more of the peyton lovefest, personally. i hope brady and co. steamroll right over them.
1.) Plenty of people bagged on the Colts a few seasons back for running up the score so Manning could break the record. It wasn't as pronounced as the current situation, but it did happen.
2.) You know I don't care about football. I follow the Orioles and Maryland basketball. I don't know a zone blitz from a Pizza Hut P'Zone, except that one is a crappy pizza-like food item and the other is a defensive football strategy.
So, let me put the "take Brady's knees out" in football and basketball terms. What people are saying the Redskins should have done to Brady is not "take his knees out", nor attempt a helmet-to-helmet tackle; what they should have done is the football equivalent of nailing him in the ribs with a fastball, or committing a (controlled) hard foul on a fast break.
Should the Redskins have played better defense? Of course. Did the Pats have the right to do whatever they wanted offensively until the final gun sounded? Damn right. Is the self-answered rhetorical question the most annoying literary device in the known universe? I'd answer, but it was rhetorical.
The fastball-to-the-ribs and the hard foul are both immature and unsportsmanlike responses to getting beaten. But in baseball, and to a lesser extent in basketball, they're accepted parts of the game. The point is not to injure Brady, but to say "OK, you beat us, but we're not a bunch of sissies." And if the Pats are going to be that blatant about running up the score, then they should expect a little unsportsmanlike conduct coming back.
Don't like it? Then feed the ball to Maroney and Dillon instead of throwing bombs to Moss when you're up by 30-plus.
I know this won't be a popular sentiment on this blog, but that's how I feel. And, BTW, I was telling this same thing to a Skins fan in DC the other night, and a Pats fan actually interrupted our conversation...to say he agreed with me.
But Chris, the point I was making is that some columnists and national media types ARE suggesting that someone cheap shot Brady. And that's where I draw the line. He's not fragile. He's not made of spun sugar. He's a football player and, I think, a deceptively tough one. He can take his shots. But where I draw the line is when people ARE actually clamoring for intentional injury. For Brady or for anyone else. THAT is bullshit.
Also, Dillon doesn't play for the Patriots anymore but I'm sure you knew that. 
Uh...yeah! Totally knew that.
*hides in shame*
Well, if people are actually wishing injury on him, then shame on them. This thing is clearly about Belichick and his ego; while Brady has that "DIE OPPOSITION DIE" look in his eyes, too, if Belichick wanted him out, he'd be out. All I'm saying is deliver a nice clean hit to Brady - even if it's late - and make Belichick think long and hard about whether it's more important to beat the Redskins by 50 points, or to have Brady still healthy for the Super Bowl.
It'd be interesting to see where Billy draws the line.
i guess i personally just don't understand why he has to draw a line at all. if people don't like how many points they're scoring, stop them. period.
i agree with beth.
if a team is so upset because another team is steamrolling them, their only option is to resort to childish tactics of hitting someone below the belt? that, to me, seems retarded and unbelievably immature - are these guys professional footballers or 8 year olds on the playground? i mean, come on.
you want to make the pats rethink about how they're playing the game? then play the game better than them and stop LETTING them score the points. they can't score if you stop their runs. seems pretty simple to me. injuring brady does nothing except make that team look like a bunch of sore ass losers. and that's what these other teams sound like right now: whiny, pathetic sore losers who don't like that they're being humiliated and have to resort to bitching about it being unfair. and that goes for the media outlets begging for the other teams to pull a tonya harding on brady.
ok, that's enough from me. i'll get off my high horse now and let the experts continue discussing football.
The only ones complaining are the media. The current and former players and coaches are saying go out and play the game.
For those who complain about running up the score and how classless it is, take a look at the 1972 Dolphins team. The "perfect" team that every other good team is measured against. Specifically take a look at the game they played on November 12th of that year. I remember that game because I had hockey practice that afternoon and my Dad and I listened to the radio on the way home to catch the score of Patriots' game. Unfortunately, that week, my beloved (3-11) Patriots (Yay Jim Plunkett, Reggie Rucker and Randy Vataha!!) ran into the Dolphins and took a 52-0 drubbing. (Three weeks later I got to watch in person as the Fish beat the Pats again 37-21.) See this article for a similar discussion.
Until we beat someone by a score of 52-0 I don't want to hear about running up the score. Actually, the Jets game on 12/16 could be 152-0 and I wouldn't consider that to be running up the score.
Here here.
Great post, and thank you for linking Beths and Eric's articles.
I was shocked when I saw on ESPN some dude complaining that the Patriots "run up the score". That is just absurd.
And I rememer clearly listening to the Miami/New England game, when Bellichick took out Brady and some others, and then they started to give up points at an alarming rate. The Dolphins stomped across the field, and Cassel threw an interception for a touchdown. I actually felt threatened at that point, and so did Bill, because he brought out the opening cast, and made sure it didn't get close.
There's nothing wrong with insurance. As a Sox fan I know that there is a such thing as an improbable comeback. And also as a Sox fan, I have a deep seeded fear of chokeing.
If the Pats got stomped by 30+points I would just be sad, and would hide under a rock in shame.
Thanks to Michael--I was ducking in here to bring up the '72 Dolphins and their ruthless 52-0 drubbing of the Pats. When this BS topic of "running up the score" first came up on Sportscenter, I was already frothing at the mouth. The bad sportsmanship here is from that guy who started whinging about getting his ass handed to him; it's from the people calling for cheap shots and late hits.
For the record, I'm not a Pats fan. I'm a freaking Rams fan (I know, I know) but I live in New England now and I am ENJOYING some damn good football. I just wish people would man up or shut up.
So glad you wrote this entry, because you're entirely right. I've been saying all week that this is not a tea party or Pop Warner, this the the NFL and these men are getting paid millions of dollars to to do one thing--either they're supposed to score points, or they're supposed to stop someone else from scoring points. Its really that simple. If the Redskins (or any other team) can't prevent out admittedly slow quarterback or his inexperienced backup from rushing for a touchdown, that would not be our fault. I mean, seriously. Sack up. Watch some film. Fix what's wrong with your team, don't worry about what ours is doing.
There is no such thing as "running up the score" in professional sports.
Professional athletes are paid exorbitant amounts of money to give one hundred percent effort one hundred percent of the time.
If you don't want the Patriots to drop 50 points on you, the answer is simple: STOP THEM.
Tom Brady commented on the whole running up the score thing in an interview with Dan Marino that aired this morning. He said something like... if he's having a bad game he would never expect a defense to let up so he could make a few plays. He would come away from a game like that looking at the things he needed to improve on.
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