Antonio Smith's suspicions that the Patriotspossibly spied on the Houston Texans' defense sounded patently ridiculous right off the bat.
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We hesitate to give this silly story too much run. Defensive end Chandler Jonesbasically gave a non-answer to our "NFL AM" crew on NFL Network, and Bill Belichick said Monday it was a league matter, after taking what could be construed as a subtle dig at Smith.
"I'm sure they're frustrated," the coach said on WEEI-FM. "They lost to us twice last year and lost to us again down there at home, so I mean, we've seen that before. I'm sure there was some frustration."
Tom Brady dismissed Smith's spying comments.
"Execution is the name of the game. We did a good job there in the second half," Brady said on WEEI-FM on Monday, via The Boston Globe.
As for those new wrinkles that Smith talked about?
"They definitely did some different things than we were expecting, but nothing that really blew our mind," Brady said.
The Patriots' offense has been coming on strong in recent weeks. Contrary to what Smith said, there was nothing particularly "miraculous" about the performance. It was the fifth time in a row that Belichick and Tom Brady beat a Wade Phillips defense, with the average margin of victory being 18 points.
The latest "Around the League Podcast" recapped every Week 13 game.