But then ... this.
"On Jan. 14, 2007, the Chargers hosted the Pats in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game. San Diego was 14-2 and the No. 1 seed, winner of 10 straight. New England won 24-21. Did the Chargers screw it up? Sure. They were better than those guys and it got Marty Schottenheimer fired.
Did the Patriots cheat? Well, it fell into that ESPN time line.
The next year the Chargers lost again to the Pats, this time in Foxborough, 21-12 in the AFC Championship Game. Quarterback Philip Rivers had knee surgery a few days before. Tailback LaDainian Tomlinson, injured, had two carries and sat sulking on the sideline. Tight end Antonio Gates played on one foot and decoyed. Still, the Bolts trailed only 14-12 after three quarters. Healthy, no question, they were better.
Did the Patriots’ cheat? We’ll probably never know. Possible? Absolutely. You have to be incredibly naïve or blinded by the Patriots’ light to believe they didn’t."
"Did any of this cost the Chargers Super Bowls? Can’t say. The Chargers had superior personal and should have played better, especially in the Divisional game. If they had won one or two, would we even be talking about L.A. or Carson today? I think we’d already have a new stadium."
Are Nick Canepa's grapes more than slightly sour? Perhaps, but without any evidence that anything untoward happened to the Chargers other than an ESPN report that covers the time those two games were played, he was able to say there's a possibility San Diego was not only cheated out of a Super Bowl, but potentially its NFL team.
And I'm willing to bet he didn't even have to try that hard.
This is the world that the Patriots (with, it appears, a healthy assist from Roger Goodell) have created.
I will grant that the Patriots haven't been too popular outside New England for a while, but now it's getting far too easy for everyone but the people who think Tom Brady was "freed" -- and I will continue to ask, "What prison was he in?" -- when his Deflategate suspension was overturned to think they literally haven't been able to win anything on the up-and-up.
The NFL has been able to withstand Michael Vick's dog-fighting, Ray Rice cold-cocking his future wife in an elevator, Adrian Peterson beating his kids, Greg Hardy's domestic violence case, players fans and media would be screaming "STEROIDS!" about if they picked up a baseball bat instead of a football helmet, Junior Seau's suicide and a seemingly incompetent commissioner.
And while I don't think this will bring the league down, either, believing the marquee franchise with the most-powerful owner, the brilliant coach (who, by the way, how can you talk about how brilliant he is as a strategist if you think his strategies are developed by breaking the rules?) and the face of the league are a bunch of cheaters isn't a bad way to alienate fans.
