The Belichick-Brady Legacy Is Defined by Wins, Not Tapes or Tucks

This is a story about greatness, the eternal kind, and the story begins with the dumbest question of all time.The question comes in various forms and levels of nastiness. It's always asked with aggression or cockiness. The worst fans of the worst teams ask it the most, which is always amusing. The question is used as an insult, a form of trolling punctuation to a vapid argument. The question always comes to life on message boards. Look below. See it in all of its primal glory.

The question goes like this: How many Super Bowls have the New England Patriots won since Spygate?  

The answer, of course, is zero. But it's all a trap because the question is pure idiocy.As we watch Bill Belichick and Tom Brady on the precipice of yet another Super Bowl—they have already been to a staggering five, winning three—if they do advance, it should end all Spygate nonsense. There should be no Spygate nonsense to start with, but since there is, another Super Bowl should terminate all of it. Win or lose.That perspective has been totally lost. Shula recently called Belichick "Beli-cheat." I greatly admire Shula—after all, I wrote a book on his unbeaten team—but sometimes he takes his criticism of Belichick too far.

Ray Lewis, reviving the Brady-is-a-no-talent-pretty-boy meme, said this week we wouldn't know Brady without the tuck rule. The Ravens' Terrell Suggs, who was mic'd on Inside the NFL, said this to the ref about Brady during the Ravens' divisional loss to New England: "Please don't fall for the flop."

There's a theme with some teams and fans, that either the Patriots have cheated their way to success, or the tuck rule made them, or some alchemic combo of both.

The truth is, Belichick and Brady beating the Colts and returning to the Super Bowl would make them the best coach-quarterback pairing we've ever seen. If they aren't already.

Some would say the best two are Bill Walsh and Joe Montana. That's obviously a terrific choice, but the Belichick-Brady dominance has come in an era when the NFL has done its damnedest to eradicate dynasties with the salary cap.

We are watching something special, not tainted—brilliant, not buoyed by tuck.



Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2330223-the-belichick-brady-legacy-is-defined-by-wins-not-tapes-or-tucks