15 yards for unnecessary whining

OK, I get it. Everyone in America hates the Patriots.

To a certain extent, I understand it. They have a recent history of domination, they were found guilty of a rather offensive crime, their coach isn't particularly pleasant, and the players offer little in the way of entertaining soundbites. The hatred has grown to the point that fans all around the country celebrated when Tom Brady went down with injury, noting - whether out loud or to themselves - that it was about time something bad happened to the Pats.

But is it really impossible at this point to imagine the Patriots winning a game outright? It seems that every Pats win is followed by some griping or whining from the other side - be it bitchy players (see Tomlinson, Ladainian) or cranky coaches or biased television commentators (see Jackson, Tom). And now there's a report on ESPN.com that the Rams compiled and sent a tape to the NFL of calls that should have been made during Sunday's game.

Seriously? This is what it has come to? The Patriots, with BenJarvisGreenEllis (that is how his name should forever be written - end of story) and Matt Cassell as the primary weapons in the backfield, took the Rams out in come-from-behind fashion, and all St. Louis cares about are three missed penalties and an ill-spotted punt. Haslet even says the Rams "should have had 10 more yards" on the aforementioned punt spotting. 10 yards? Fine, take them. The Pats still score a touchdown on the ensuing drive, it just takes two plays longer.

The Pats were playing without Brady and without their top three (THREE!) running backs and still managed victory. And whether the Rams want to admit it or not, the officials had nothing to do with it.

I guess this is our fate as Patriots fans - everyone hates us, and will look for any way to undermine anything the team accomplishes. I guess I know how Yankee fans felt all along.

If there's one silver lining in all of this, it's that the Patriots tend to respond fairly well to trash talking in the opposing locker room. Perceived slights have pushed the Pats to great heights over the years. So perhaps Sunday's whining will simply turn into motivation down the stretch instead of another NFL scandal.

All I know is next on the schedule is the Indianapolis Colts. One thing's for sure - Tom Jackson will slurp Tony Dungy all week and during the ESPN pre-game, and Peyton Manning will whine if the Pats pull of the win. Personally, all of this is fine with me. If nothing else, it adds a bit more intrigue to a season that has already taken about 15 unexpected turns.

Still, the Pats stand in a first-place tie with a 5-2 mark. Apparently there's no penalty for perseverance.