Thursday, May 08, 2008 | Posted by Connor Byrne

Earlier this week, former New England assistant Matt Walsh turned over the evidence of the Patriots' videotaping escapades from 2000-2002 to the National Football League, and one of the eight tapes Walsh gave commissioner Roger Goodell pertained to the Buffalo Bills. In specific, it was footage of New England taping Buffalo's coaches' signals in November of 2001. The Patriots won 21-11 that day and then took the second matchup of the season in closer fashion, 12-9. Naturally, Bills fans -- many of whom have been calling for the Patriots to forfeit their AFC East titles and Super Bowl victories -- would like to see the Pats receive a greater punishment than the initial one handed down last September (a $500,000 fine and surrender of a first-round pick).

However, Bills loyalists shouldn't be too concerned over any videotaping the Patriots have done during their seven years of dominance over the AFC. New England has compiled an incredible 13-1 record against the Bills since the first year the Pats began videotaping, '01, and it probably has very little to do with anything but a superior roster and much better coaching staff. During the teams' last 14 matchups, the Pats have outscored the Bills by a 386-158 margin. That's a difference of 228 points, which is an roughly 16 per game. Videotaping makes for that much of a gap between two division rivals? Not likely.

When the Bills faced the Patriots in a prime-time home game last November, the latter ran roughshod in a 56-10 rout. That was two months after New England was punished by the NFL for videotaping its Week 1 contest against the New York Jets. In addition, it was the Bills' third coaching staff since the Pats videotaped their signals in 2001. Since then, the Bills have run through the eras of Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey and Dick Jauron. The Patriots have thrashed the Bills not because of some meaningless videotaping, then, but because of the presence of surefire future Hall of Famers like Tom Brady (quarterback) and Bill Belichick (head coach). The Bills simply haven't had good enough players or coaches to combat New England's, which is the reason the teams' games haven't been anywhere close to competitive in the last seven years.

If the Bills are unhappy about the videotaping evidence from 2001 -- and they have the right to be, as it did violate the integrity of the league -- the best revenge they can get on the Patriots is to actually beat the three-time Super Bowl winners for a change. That's clearly easier said than done, of course, but it's high time Buffalo began putting up some sort of fight against New England. Thanks to the improvements they've made over the past few offseasons -- particularly this one -- the Bills might finally be on their way to at least remaining in the Pats' stratosphere when the two franchises square off this season and beyond. To curb Brady's stellar play against the Bills, they wisely bulked up their defense by adding size and physicality, acquiring accomplished veterans Marcus Stroud (defensive tackle) and Kawika Mitchell (linebacker) as well as first-round pick Leodis McKelvin (cornerback). Additionally, the Bills seem to have an up-and-coming, fast offense that might give New England's aging, lumbering defense some difficulty.

Whether the Bills are actually any closer to the Patriots' level will play itself out beginning in the fall, but the fact New England videotaped a solitary game between the two teams almost eight years ago shouldn't have any bearing on the past seven seasons. Spygate isn't a valid excuse for having your team get outscored by 228 points by another club over a 14-game period, and Bills fans would be wise to accept that.

Please Login to Comment!   New user?  Sign Up!