Reminder: The Object of Football is to Crush the Opposition

In the wake of the Patriots' latest overwhelming victory, a 56-10 massacre of the Buffalo Bills, sports columnists, enthusiasts, talk-show hosts, and even mainstream media reporters are labeling the Pats and their coach, Bill Belichick, unsportsmanlike.

John Clayton, Senior Writer for ESPN, writes: "Face it, folks, Belichick plans to lay waste to the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell took away a first-rounder, so the Patriots will take away your firstborn. Belichick has assembled perhaps the most dominating team in NFL history, and he's intent on destroying all opponents in his path.

"Sunday night's game showed how Belichick plans to handle the rest of the season. Anyone thinking he will rest Brady in the final month before the playoffs is wrong. He will allow his future Hall of Fame quarterback to shatter every record imaginable."

I find nothing wrong with Belichick's "scorched earth" policy.

Football is often equated to war. While I disagree with the comparison--and I cringe when players liberally borrow words like "battle", "hero", and "epic struggle" to describe the game--football is a winner-take-all struggle between two teams, played under a defined set of rules that apply to each team.

(I'm going to set aside for a moment the fact that Belichick stole signals from the Jets, even though it did not affect the outcome of the game at all... And in fact, mark December 16 on your calendar, because the Jets are going to pay for angering Belichick).

Folks, make no mistake: The object of football is to crush the opposition. You crush them physically, you crush them mentally, you crush them spiritually. From the moment the game starts, your goal is to take away any semblance of belief that your opponent can beat you. You beat them in every conceivable way. And when you've done so, you don't apologize. You don't ask for forgiveness. You don't explain.

On a path to supplanting the 1972 Miami Dolphins as "the best team ever", the Patriots are laying waste to the NFL. They are making a mockery of parity. The way they are crushing their opponents (including my beloved Redskins) is mesmerizing in its devastation. You want to look away but you can't.

I hope the Patriots go 19-0. I hope commentators continue to use military terms to describe their exploits. Because football is like war.

(Aside: As a matter of foreign policy, our nation would be wise to remember that.)