Belichick the cheater

Sorry, but I'm not going to get especially worked up about the Patriots stealing defensive signals. This has only been going on forever, in some form or fashion. Cloak and dagger stuff is routine in the NFL. You could get indignant about it, but only if you don't believe the average NFL head coach would sell his mother to gain an edge. What I don't get is why B. Belichick, of all people, felt the need to do this. Guy's a great coach, with very good players. Romeo Crennel needs this stuff. Not Belichick.

Regardless, the edge gained seems minimal to me. You still have to have the players. If the NFL wants to stop it, put the same device in a defensive player's helmet that the QB has in his. That's take care of it. Until some other coach figures a better way to cheat.

This, from today's NY Times:

Defensive coaches use hand signals to tell their team what defense to play on each snap. It would be a decided advantage for an opposing offense to figure out the menu of signals by matching the videotape of the signals with video of the plays. That would allow offensive coaches to use the in-helmet communication system with the quarterback to tell him what defense to expect.
Defensive coaches frequently try to change their signals from game to game to avoid detection, so the Patriots were likely hoping to break the codes for use in the same game. Because the video camera was taken in the first quarter of the Jets game, it’s unlikely that the videotaping had much impact on the Patriots’ 38-14 victory.