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Patriots Cheating Video Released

Eagles take on "Spygate"

Sheldon Brown and the Eagles hoped a blitz would rattle Tom Brady.

One problem: Every time the Eagles rushed Brady in the Super Bowl, the Patriots nullified the defensive attack with screen passes. Lots of them. On almost every play defensive coordinator Jim Johnson called for a blitz, the Patriots used the short pass to confuse the Eagles.

After the Patriots beat the Eagles 24-21 in 2005 to win the Lombardi Trophy, Brown thought the Patriots beat them with nothing but sharp offensive playcalling. Now, he's not so sure.

With spying accusations leveled this week against the Patriots, some of the Eagles left from the NFC title team are wondering if New England used bootleg film to their advantage in the Super Bowl.

"Do I think about it? Mmm hmmm," said Brown, their starting cornerback. "It's crazy. I just don't know how far back it goes. Something's not right about that."

Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins found the accusations troublesome.

"Now there's always going to be questions about the situation," Dawkins said Thursday. "Was it great adjustments at halftime or what?"

Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward said this week that he suspected the Patriots had some type of inside information on the Steelers before at least one of the teams' two AFC championship game matchups since the 2001 season. While Ward said the Patriots knew a lot of Pittsburgh's calls, none of the Eagles could offer any type of solid proof of any shenanigans.

"For me to think back two years ago about something they may or may not have done, it's not worth my time," running back Brian Westbrook said.

New England beat the New York Jets in last Sunday's season opener in which an on-field video camera allegedly focusing on Jets coaches was confiscated from a Patriots employee.

On Thursday, New England coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also ordered the team to give up next year's first-round draft choice if it reaches the playoffs and second- and third-round picks if it doesn't.

"I would like to think it's just one team doing it, but it doesn't shock me that it happened," Dawkins said.

Some Eagles said occasional signal-stealing is an accepted part of the game. But they believe what the Patriots are accused of doing crosses the football morality line because it threatens the integrity of the game.

"It's different if you're talking about recording it," Dawkins said. "What can you do if you try to signal a play in?"

Eagles coach Andy Reid steered away from questions about the alleged cheating other than to say he has no doubts New England's victory was legitimate.

"That's something Bill and the Patriots are working through," Reid said.

Brown said he noticed a difference in New England's playcalling in the second quarter. After the Patriots gained only 45 yards in the first quarter, they had 286 over the next three.

Brady hit running back Corey Dillon and gained 29 total yards on a pair of screens to open New England's first full drive of the second quarter. They didn't score on that drive, but did on four of the next five drives.

The Patriots went to the screen pass again on the decisive drive early in the fourth quarter, this time with Brady connecting with Kevin Faulk on two passes for 27 yards.

"I was like, 'Man, I never saw that many screens,' " Brown said.

Brown wonders if it was normal playcalling from a team good enough to win three Super Bowls in four seasons, a Patriots team that used a strong scouting report to gain a fair edge, or was somebody picking up the Eagles defensive calls from a sideline camera that deprived them of a fair shot?

"I think they should forfeit, man," said punt returner Reno Mahe, smiling. "We won the Super Bowl. I think we should get it. I'm going to go trade my NFC championship ring for a Super Bowl ring."

The headline over a picture of Belichick on the back page of Thursday's Philadelphia Daily News might have said it all: "Counterfeit RING: Spy Scandal Helps Explain Birds' Super Bowl Loss."

Hey, maybe the illicit tape would show once and for all if Donovan McNabb really did get sick in the huddle late in the game. Remember, that was Philadelphia's first excuse for losing.

McNabb -- who insisted the Eagles would never stoop to those kind of tactics -- was surprised to hear the allegations against the Patriots. But he said the suspicions might be overblown.

"One thing people are forgetting is that even if you have the answers to the test, you still have to take the test," he said. "If they have an idea of what's coming, those guys still have to be able to execute the play."

That doesn't mean McNabb won't clear some space in his jewelry box. For a city that last saw a pro team win a championship nearly 25 years ago, the Eagles might accept a retroactive one.

"Maybe we'll get our ring back," said a chuckling McNabb. "Maybe we'll get the real one."

>>ESPN.com

Shady Brady and Bill Belicheat

Patriots Cheated in Super Bowl XXXIX?

Super Bowl 39. In Eagles fans memories, it goes down as the one they let get away. Everybody remembers how turnovers were crucial mistakes, and how the Eagles apparently forgot how to run the 2 minute offense at the end of the game down ten points.

This painful memory still haunts Philadelphia fans today. Some still seek answers, as to what went wrong in the big game, and many choose not to relive that game ever again. I don't blame them. Until now.

The news has come out, that the New England Patriots are cheaters. In a nasty scandal dubbed "Spygate", the Patriots were caught red handed, stealing defensive signals from their opponent.

Many ask now, how long has this been going on?

Who knows. Many teams have accused the Pats of doing this very thing before, but there has never been any hard evidence until now. Hopefully more details can be dug up.

I am sure Eagles fans only want to know one thing.

Did the Patriots cheat in the Super Bowl?

That is an answer that nobody will probably ever know, except the Patriots themselves. When you look at how that game played out though, the circumstantial evidence appears to be there.

While there were many factors, that decided that game, I am going to only focus on the Patriots offense, against the Eagles defense. In that aspect, it was a tale of two halves.

In the first half of the game, the Eagles defense was playing great. They were swarming to the ball, breaking up passes, getting sacks, disrupting Brady, and they even forced a fumble in the red zone. They had tamed the Pats offense, and at the end of the half, the score was tied at 7.

Then came the third quarter. The Patriots came out a different team, and were suddenly advancing the ball at will. It seemed that for every Jim Johnson blitz, the Patriots executed the perfect screen to beat it. Brady was suddenly able to hit Deon Branch almost at will, and the Eagles defense was on their heels.

What was so different in the second half?

The Patriots knew what the Eagles defense was doing, because they had stolen their signals. Just like the Jets game, they had somebody record all the defensive signals in the first half, and matched them up to the sky shots that are given by every team, to see what a defense is doing every play.

With this information, they knew what the defense was doing before they even walked to the line of scrimmage. They had an unfair competitive advantage, and I believe it cost the Eagles, and the city of Philadelphia a championship.

Now you might say that I am being a homer, or that this post is just sour grapes, but think outside the box for a minute. Could this have really happened?

If you even paused to think about it, then there is some doubt in your mind. The possibility exists, and I feel it happened. Can I prove it? No, but hopefully commissioner Roger Goodell does a very extensive investigation. There is a chance that more evidence could surface, and back up my point.

I know that the Eagles will not be handed the Lombardi no matter what, and that many other things factored into that horrible defeat, but it just angers me that the Eagles season of destiny was possibly stolen away from them.