The Patriots are undefeated because they are a very good, well motivated, well managed football team. Your comments scream of jealousy, an unhealthy emotion .  

It's very simple:

The Patriots were caught videotaping an opponent's signals. This is against the rules in the NFL. They knew it was against the rules; they had been warned specifically in the past, and Commissioner Goodell sent a memo to every team at the beginning of this season stating as such. They did it anyway. This makes them cheaters.

We further know that they possessed a library of such film. We don't know what exactly was on that film, because the league quickly destroyed it. However, if they took the trouble to do the filming in the first place, knowing that they could be severely punished if caught, it seems likely that this past library helped them in some way. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth the risk, and we know that Belichick is no dummy.

Whether or not taping assisted them in this year's historic run -- which is very doubtful -- is immaterial. They still did it, it's still against the rules, ergo: they're still cheaters, whether it helped in this particular season or not.

Think of it this way: say you're a college student. You have a biology exam and you haven't studied. All those terms and definitions, what will you do? So you make "crib notes." You write down definitions and explanations of biological processes on a piece of paper. You hide it up your sleeve so you can surreptitiously peek at it later to help you during the exam. As you're walking in the testing room, the professor notices a little corner of the paper sticking out your sleeve and tells you to remove it. You do, he sees it, and you're busted.

What do you think would happen to you in this case? Do you think the professor would say, "Oh well, as long as we caught you cheating before it could help you on the test, it's not really cheating -- now go sit down, young man"? If you believe this, then you live in a world of delusion. You would be severely punished, and -- in many places -- expelled from school. And why? Because IT'S STILL CHEATING.

And this is why we call the Pats cheaters: because they are. Cheating is not dependent on whether it helps your cause or not. In fact, in many cases it does not. I went to school with a monumentally stupid kid. He was taking a Spanish exam in a study hall, and cheated by peeking at exam of the kid next to him. What he didn't realize was that -- even though both tests were multiple choice -- his neighbor was taking a FRENCH exam. There were two different exams going on at the same time in the room. So even though the cheating didn't help (and in this case, probably hurt), it was still cheating.

In sum: were the Pats helped in the past by cheating? Hard to say for sure, but it seems pretty plausible, given the degree of risk involved in the cheating. Were they helped this year by the cheating? Probably not. Was it still cheating? Yes. Does this make the Pats cheaters? By definition, yes.

I hope this helps clear it up for you. And remember, I didn't even mention Rodney Harrison. And yes, taking illegal and banned substances is cheating too. But that's a topic for another post.

And by the way, none of this makes me feel better or worse or anything at all about my own team. My team had nothing to do with any of this. The disgust I feel about the situation I feel solely about the Pats -- the only team that was involved in the specific instances we're talking about. I think the Pats are a very, very good football team which has been caught cheating several times.