Miami Dolphins fans: should you be upset at latest New England Patriots alleged cheating?

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Just when long suffering Miami Dolphins fans were ready to make peace and move on from the suggestion that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots may or may not have been intentionally deflating footballs during regular season games against the Dolphins in the same manner he allegedly did in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, accusations of a much deeper Patriots cheating scandal have surfaced today – and they include claims of the Pats directly cheating against Miami.

ESPN now claims that for several years the Patriots organization conspired to steal playbooks from players on various NFL teams, and the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills in particular, by breaking into hotel rooms and sneaking into locker rooms. These disallowed and possibly illegal activities allegedly went on from the year 2000 through 2007, during which time the Patriots and Dolphins played each other sixteen times in the regular season. The Patriots tended to win those games, particularly when it counted in the playoff standings.

That leaves Miami fans in the odd position of once again having to wonder if those generally unsuccessful seasons were made even worse by New England cheating. It’s a tough sell even for the most ardent Dolphins fans, as the Patriots had hall of famers Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and a generally superior roster during that time, while the Dolphins had a string of subpar quarterbacks and coaches who have largely been already forgotten.

Much as it seems likely that the Patriots would have won the majority of those matchups regardless of whether playbooks were stolen, it still leaves Dolphins fans with the bad taste of wondering if those seasons were tainted in ways that went beyond the mere middling incompetence of the Miami organization. When the two teams face each other twice again this season, the issue will no doubt be in the backs of the minds of Dolphins fans if not in the front.

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