Death, taxes, and opposing teams accusing the Patriots (7-2) of cheating.
Apparently it doesn’t matter who the coach is. If teams are playing New England, their guard is always up.
Here’s what Falcons (3-5) head coach Raheem Morris said after his team’s 24-23 loss on Sunday at Gillette Stadium:
“They did a nice job. They simulated a snap. The ball came early, was snapped early. Within that snap, that was when we got the intentional grounding. Nice job by those guys. Great situational football. Great play. Got to snap the ball. That's why the ball was snapped early on, Mike. He wasn't ready for the snap.”
To catch everyone up, Morris is blaming Michael Penix’s intentional grounding penalty from his team’s final offensive possession on the Patriots defense. That led to Atlanta being in a 3rd and 20 situation with 2:07 left in the ballgame, which inevitably led to his team punting the ball away with just over two minutes to go.
Three offensive plays later for New England, and the ballgame was officially over.
What say you, Mike Vrabel?
The Patriots head coach was asked about Morris’ accusations of foul play by New England’s defense during his visit with The Greg Hill Show on Monday.
“Do you have any response [to Morris]?” asked WEEI’s Courtney Cox.
“I don’t,” said Vrabel, sounding genuinely surprised by Morris’ comments. “I mean, I didn't see anything. Like, is that fake? I don’t know.
“Quarterbacks when they want the ball, it’s like [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap]. I mean, I didn’t see anybody doing that. And then, like, we don’t do the clap … I can see, like, when the quarterback, like it’s the silent count, it’s like [softer claps], but I didn’t see anybody, like, do that. Clapgate.
“That was new. I didn't see that. I just know - and maybe that's a testament to our fans. You know what I mean? It got loud, and I could hear the energy, and so thank them for that. But that's a good point. I did not - I didn't see anything, and I’ll let you guys go investigate.”
Let the ‘Clapgate’ investigation begin!
…actually, can we not?
Let’s focus on the Patriots’ next matchup - a battle of two first place teams at New England hits the road for a Week 10 tilt with Tampa Bay (6-2).
As of publishing, the Buccaneers have New England listed as an underdog for the first time in weeks, as the Patriots are 2.5-point road dogs, sitting on the moneyline at +120. The total is set at 48.5.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.