Simmons still whining, but I know how to beat N.E. now

Bill Simmons held a marathon chat on espn.com for the Jimmy V Foundation yesterday and continued to find ways to whine about refereeing in Patriots games.

He played enabler to Justin in Peabody, Mass.:
Justin (Peabody, MA): It seems to me the refs are looking for Offensive P.I. against Randy Moss now. Anything close, they call it. I have this bad feeling they will make an awful call against him in the playoffs and it could cost us.

Bill Simmons: I will only say this - Moss isn't allowed to raise his hands in the end zone, but opposing d-backs are allowed to maul him on every play. In the Miami game, he caught 2 TD's with guys pulling his arms down - no flag. It's like he's being officiated the same way NBA refs officiated Shaq back in the day, where there's a degree of difficulty brought into it for him.

then moaned some more:

Bob (Green Bay): Is it just me being a Green Bay fan or do they possibly have the best shot at New England. I see them as having two physical corners (Harris always played Moss pretty well when he was in Minnesota). They also have the front 7 to get to Brady and keep pressure on him. And they also have enough offense to put points on the board. Not that they are a better team, but I think they have as good a shot as anyone.

Bill Simmons: And you know they'd get all the calls...

Boy, Bill, wouldn't it be a crying shame if a team did get brutally screwed over by the officiating in a Super Bowl? Wouldn't it be a catastrophic, unthinkable, titanic, SUPER BOWL XXXVI-sized disaster?

It dawns on me right now how somebody's going to beat New England. They'll have to Belichick 'em. No, I don't mean steal their sideline signals; I mean "cheat" the way they did in Super Bowl XXXVI. Mug their receivers every play and bet the league and the refs won't be willing to turn the game into a 4-and-a-half hour festival of flags and judgment calls. Wade Philips, Mike McCarthy, Mike Tomlin, Jack del Rio, or anybody else with a shot at the Patriots this postseason: I am begging you, please do this. Beat Belichick at his own game. Mug the N.E. receivers. Rough up Brady. Make the refs throw the flags. When they don't, you have leveled the playing field, and you can pull off one of the all-time upsets.

One coach couldn't pull this off - Tony Dungy. After complaining to the league a couple of years ago about his WRs getting manhandled by N.E., a complaint which helped him gain a title of his own, he'd have to sell his soul to get away with turning around and winning games with the same kind of defense he complained to the league about. Anybody else, though, is fair game for this "strategy" and represents a chance to deliciously, though overduly, avenge the Rams by stealing a Super Bowl from the Pats the way they did from us.

Rough 'em up, clutch and grab 'em, and you may be clutching the Lombardi Trophy after the game.