[quote name='CaseyRyback']I didn't feel like going through and explaining why running a gimmick special teams play on third down was a bad call. Most injuries do occur on special teams and you are asking people to play out of position on top of that. The risk of injury is still high and asking your best player to do something that he doesn't do on a regular basis is incredibly dumb, especially in that situation. If Denver actually did something in that situation with the football just imagine how many Broncos would have looked to light Brady up. There is a reason QB's don't play on special teams.
Instead of trying to defend the play for reasons that make football sense, there aren't any, Pat's fans should just own up to the fact that they were pushing the Broncos shit in and they don't give a

. There is no reason for that play to happen except to be huge dicks, which is fine, but don't try and act like it was a smart or valid call. If Brady got hurt on a dumb play like that none of the Pat's fans would be defending it and everyone would wonder why Brian Hoyer wasn't in the game. I got no problem with people pushing in the shit of the other team. Hell I want my teams to do it just like everyone else does, but there is a reason why teams put in the scrubs and its because people get pissed off when they get embarrassed.[/QUOTE]
I don't want to get into a whole big thing about it, but you're wrong.
I know for a fact that the Patriots have had that play in their playbook for a decade and practice it routinely. Brady did the same thing in Miami several years ago. The Pats also punted twice on third down during very windy game at Buffalo in 2008, one of which was by Matt Cassell.
That was not a "special teams" play. Brady kicked the ball and since there was nobody back to defend it, it rolled to a stop at the ten with very little fanfare. Nobody would have been hit on the play if Von Miller didn't throw a cheap shot on Matt Light. But yeah, the Pats are the classless ones. As to your point about the Broncos "doing something with the ball", no Bronco touched the football on the play. That was the entire point of the "incredibly dumb" play.
Hating the Patriots is such low hanging fruit, and people tend to look for reasons to reinforce that opinion, which is human nature. It doesn't make it less wrong. Take the McDaniels thing: The news broke on Saturday and was officially announced Sunday before the Broncos have even played. At that point the Patriots had every reason to believe their opponent would be the Steelers. But since it happened that they're playing the Broncos, it now becomes part of the "Pats are classless" lore, just like "Brady punting on third down" will.
Do I wish people didn't irrationally hate my team? Sure, it gets annoying sometimes. But I'm long past expecting that people are able to discuss the Patriots rationally. I'd rather have a perennially successful team that people hate than the alternative.