The Goggles Do Nothing

In light of the Patriots' blowout victory over San Diego, I'm guessing New England supporters will break out the "see, the videotaping really didn't matter" defense. Don't buy it. Nobody ever said that the spying is what turned the Patriots into a good football team. Instead, they were a good football team who gained a distinct edge due to cheating.
The Pats were always capable of putting together dominant performances (like last night) without the aid of subversive tactics. But they clearly didn't feel comfortable enough to try and do so. Just because the Pats can win without cheating doesn't mean that they didn't cheat.
It's sort of like comparing the steroid use of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. Without 'roids, McGwire would have been remembered for his Bash Brother days in Oakland and little else. Bonds, on the other hand, was a Hall of Famer before he took steroids - the drugs helped him hit Ruthian numbers. The Pats are like Bonds. They would have been good without cheating. Because they did, however, they were ever better.
Had, say, Detroit employed the same tactics, they still would have been living in the cellar of the NFC North. The spying wasn't a magical cure-all; it was a tool that the Pats used. Obviously, it was effective, as Bill Belichick continued to have his assistants spy even after repeated warnings.

Tomorrow: Redskins/Eagles preview & the biggest Redskins-hater you've ever seen