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Kurt Warner believes Patriots-Rams Super Bowl might have been different if played today

 02.01.12 at 12:23 pm ET
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Kurt Warner said his team's Super Bowl loss might have been different in this day and age of the NFL. (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS – Evidently, Super Bowl XXXVI still sticks in the craw of Kurt Warner.

The former Rams’ quarterback, whose team suffered a 20-17 defeat to the Patriots in one of the biggest upsets in professional sports history, told a small group of reporters while visiting the Giants’ hotel that things might have been different if the two teams played in this era of the NFL.

Warner surmised that the defensive strategy used by the Patriots on Feb. 3, 2002 would not have worked in this day and age of officials cracking down on teams defending the passing game.

“No. No,” said Warner when asked if the Patriots’ physical style of defense during that Super Bowl could be used in the present-day NFL. “With the rules now … I say no, but, again, it would have come down to the officials having to make the calls. But even with what they did then I don’t know if it was, quote-unquote, legal from the standpoint of the rulebook. But they were pushing the envelope, but, again, I give them credit because you knew if you were going to beat us that’s what you had to do, you had to push the envelope. You had to say, ‘We’re going to beat them until somebody tells us it’s illegal and throws a flag and if they don’t, keep doing it.’

“I think it would have been more difficult because there’s more emphasis on that part of things. I look at plays now and I say, ‘Really? That’s pass interference?’ It still surprises me when a guy gets banged, or a little hand on him here. But that’s the nature of where the game has come. I think it would have been much more difficult in this day and age to play that way, or play that way as long as they did. But, again, I give them because it was the right plan against us and it worked in their favor.”

Warner did go out of his way to applaud how the Patriots’ managed to slow down one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history.

“The Patriots, I give them credit,” he said. “I think they went into that game saying ‘We’re going to beat those guys up. We’re going to hold them. We’re going to scratch. We’re going to claw. We’re going to do everything we can until the officials force us not to.’ I think the one we all know is that the officials do not want to dictate the Super Bowl. The officials do now want to throw a bunch of flags in the Super Bowl that will change complexion of the game. And that’s what they did. We knew if you were going to stop us that’s what you were gong to have to do. You were going to have to knock our timing off. They did a tremendous job of doing that and it wasn’t until later in the game where we started getting a few calls and they had to loosen up a little bit and we started success. There’s no question in what they did in their game plan was key, especially early in that game, to get us out of rhythm and make the plays they needed to win.”

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  • Badboy

    Really kurt..?  get over it, you guys lost and to this day you still can’t believe how the greatest show on turf went down. I believe they said the same thing about titanic. no one expects things to go down until it does.  you had your time now go sit behind the desk.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t blame Kurt, he’s saying it straight.  Maybe it’s a lesson for what we need to do to the Gints.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VXQ34GF5D2K74WT4RRP723HXRM Rob B

    Wah, cry me a river… I’ve seen a ton of PI with no calls this year, they are ‘letting them play’ because it’s the playoffs.  Nice try though Kurt.  You and Marshall Faulk need to get over it already, let it go, you blew it.

  • Robyoung54

    I am so tired of listening to Marshall Faulk and other Rams players from the 2000-2001 team whine about the Patriots. Warner, you are better than this. If anyone should be complaining it should be Mr. Kraft and BB  saying how it was crap that the rules were changed to hurt the Patriots. You lost the game to a team with alot of momentum. Get over it.

  • Paul

    Somebody give him a Steeler’s crying towel. Have some pride and just shut up, you lost that’s it. No rationalizing or whining allowed following losses it’s listed under rule 1a of the Rules of Being a Man Hand Book.  

  • Jpag99

    funny, he did not seem to mention anything about the decade old crying foul that Bill Polian has done which changed the rues and affected all teams INCLUDING the Patriots… 

    Losers will be losers, always blaming someone and something else…

  • James

    Even in today’s game,(this years playoffs) they will allow more in playoff game than in the regular season.

  • Rochrist

    Careful what you wish for Kurt. Brady is not the same player he was then. He’d carve you up now. Taking it easy on the receivers cuts both ways.

  • Dondlo

    Yea, and I think the Packers/Chiefs game in 1967 might have been different if played today. Hard to believe that Kurt Warner would say something so stupid.

  • Atgn70

    What Kurt is failing to relay is the fact that Todd Lyght,Dexter McCleon,Aeneas williams etc were doing the same exact thing ALL GAME LONG!!!! 2 sides to every story…Still like Warner,but he needs to be fair…

  • Dude, Bro, Kid

    I’d bang his wife, now that she doesn’t have that buzzcut.  Nice rack, lean frame, athletic.  Totally doable.

  • Brispence

    WAAAAAA the Pats beat us …. Shut your face and go bag some groceries you bum

  • Chairman12347

    yeah Kurt did your wife let you say that?  Remember when she called in to complain about Martz? She runs your *ss … go back to bagging groceries b&tch 

  • Anonymous

    oh yeah and Kurt. If the Pats had just sacked Eli in the closing moments of that Super Bowl from hell the Patriots would be the greatest single season team in the history of the league and Tom Brady would be looking for undisputed Greatest of all time status this weekend going for his 5th Super Bowl ring. “What ifs” are great but don’t mean jack crap in a barrell.

  • TimDogg

    I am a big Kurt Warner fan.  I respect all that he has done on and off the field.  As a Patriot fan living in Arizona I have heard Kurt make insightful comments about football and rules in general.  I typically think that Mr. Warner understands and respects the game.

    And I don’t get this. If the rule was applied today the tuck would have been a fumble.

    If today’s rules were applied to games 50 years ago maybe the results for all Super Bowls would be different.  Maybe Dick Lane would have been fined $200,000 in his career for illegal hits.  Maybe Otto Graham would have passed for 6,000 yards.

    If if’s and buts were candy and nuts…

    The Patriots played a legitimate pressure defense in that game that was called within the rules.  They also put pressure on the quarterback.  And we all know that Kurt has a tendency to drop the ball and make a bad throw under pressure.  Warner needs to own the fact that his team lost the game, and understand that living in a fantasy land does not change the score.

    When does the ‘Spygate,’ cheating, ‘not as good as you think’ press end? 

    If the Rams had ‘pushed the envelope’ and played as hard as that Pats team maybe they would have won.  Too bad they did not.

  • Mark_E

    And with the style of the game now, any team today could beat any team form the 50s or 60s. Quit bitching Warner. You lost fair and square.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QEHT7JYYL25AB3DBLLYJ6PG22A JOHN

    Losers will be losers….wa wa wa wa

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/35OEJHGG7CZGUUYWKAHGYK3OBQ Tugga

    Yes, the game would have been different if it were played today. However, the game plan of the Patriots would have been different as well. Brady would have thrown a lot more, and the Rams would have still lost. 
    I had a lot of respect for Warner until these comments. He sounds like a real sore loser here.

  • AzMike

    Kurt is correct.  It’s not just Spygate, not only the blatant pass interference, and the defensive holding by the Patriots in that Superbowl that are called  completely differently now.  The numerous, illegal, cheapshot blows to the head of Warner by Vrabel and others had a huge impact on the game.  Primadonna Tommy regularly throws a hissy fit if the opposing defense get within spitting distance of him.

  • Dave

    Sure doesn’t SOUND like he’s giving the Patriots credit…

  • Romano1189

    Are u idiots serious with all these negative comments towards kurt? Uhhh the Patriots played a dirty game with a lot of late qb hits an physical coverage that would be pass interference an roughing the passer in todays game. Thats all Kurt is saying. O yea BILL BELICHICKEN TAPED THE RAMS PRACTICES AN PLAYS THE WEEK OF THE SUPER BOWL. Ironic right? Please Patriots got what they deserved losing TWICE to the NY Giants in such humiliating fashion. There is a God! An he’s a RAMS Fan!

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/7VITIL4YIXPFVXWW7TOKKI3RK4 Scott

    9/11 vs “Greatest show on turf” who wins? They were forced to let the Patriots win.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2LNOEK34XUNUHGA4MNQ7XJU3GU Winston Smith

    He’s 100% correct.

    I challenge anyone to watch that Super Bowl fiasco again and tell me how it was “legal” for the 7 Pats defensive backs to grab, hold, and mug Rams receivers down field.

    The “pushing the envelope” performance by the Pats was nothing more than an extension of their culture of cheating.

    Plus, it didn’t hurt that the Pats illegally videotaped the Rams workouts leading up to the Super Bowl and, thus, knew what plays they were running.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2LNOEK34XUNUHGA4MNQ7XJU3GU Winston Smith

    The source told the Herald that after completing their walkthrough prior
    to Super Bowl XXXVI six years ago, the Patriots posed for a team
    picture in the Louisiana Superdome. And then the Rams took the field for
    their walkthrough. According to the source, a member of the Patriots’
    video staff stayed behind after attending the New England walkthrough
    and illegally filmed the Rams’ walkthrough.

    At no point was the cameraman asked to identify himself or produce a
    press pass, the source told the Herald. Except for a pool reporter,
    Super Bowl walkthroughs are closed to the media.

    During walkthroughs, players literally “walk through” plays that the
    team is planning to run in the game the next day. A Rams source told the
    Post-Dispatch that the Rams emphasized short-yardage, goal-line, and
    red zone plays that were in the game plan during the walkthrough that
    day in New Orleans.

    According to the Rams’ source, one of the plays in that day’s
    walkthrough was a play early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Kurt
    Warner fumbled on a fourth and goal from the New England 3. The
    Patriots recovered the fumble and raced 97 yards for an apparent
    touchdown. But the play was negated because of a defensive holding call
    against New England. The Rams subsequently scored to cut New England’s
    lead to 17-10 with less than 10 minutes to play.

    A second source said, “We hadn’t run that play all year. Our players
    were upset after the game because on certain plays, especially in the
    red zone, (the Patriots) were calling the plays and the formation that
    we were going to run.”

    The second source told the Post-Dispatch yesterday that he was told
    shortly after the game that some members of the Patriots’ staff “were up
    all night” studying the walkthrough tapes. This second source said the
    team never went public with complaints about the walkthrough taping
    because it would seem like sour grapes in the wake of a devastating
    loss.

    “Had we won the game, I might have said something,” the second source
    said. “You really don’t want to believe it anyway. The integrity of the
    game should be far more important than reducing yourself to cheating to
    win.”

    Belichick was fined $500,000, and the New England franchise fined an
    additional $250,000 earlier this season for illegally taping New York
    Jets coaching signals on the sideline during the Patriots 2007 season
    opener against the Jets. The Patriots also had to forfeit their
    first-round draft pick in the upcoming draft. The controversy was dubbed
    “Spygate.” 

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