as an aside im starting to see this take in multiple places and it is complete bullshit but let people keep doubting...
apparently the pats didnt try their hardest in this game because they wanted to leave something back for when we see them again in the playoffs
- there's no guarantee these 2 teams play each other again (and bellichick said as much in his press conference after the game)
- i saw more different kinds of defensive alignment from the pats than ive seen from maybe any other team - they literally changed from a 3-4 to a 4-3 after the first 2-3 drives - they used spies, they used man with zone inside, they used cover zero blitzes etc. etc. - they didnt do any of that against other teams
- its naive to think bellichick would throw away a game for deceptive purposes when if he actually did do what's being suggested it could potentially be the loss that loses them a bye or home field or whatever - and its literally in some of the highlight reels the moment bellichick gets his entire defence around him and is literally trying to fix and adjust in-game - likewise dont'a hightower getting heated on the sideline
but you know what let those takes be out there and let us go back into the shadows so we can punch some other darling team in the mouth