The game is definitely different, it's not just nostalgia for the good ol' days. It's turned into the Arena League. The football equivalent of "chicks dig the long ball" and the blind eye toward steroids during that era.
The NFL doesn't want to become soccer but has gone too far in the other direction. Green Bay, New England, New Orleans, etc. don't even make a real effort to run the ball and why should they? There's no downside.
As far as the Patriots, Goodell and Kraft started a legacy of cheating back when they entered the league and it's just kept going. How anyone doesn't feel that they get preferential treatment is beyond me. Chalking it up to them just being better than everyone else is a form of delusion IMO. You get into a game of poker with someone who knows what your cards are and is pulling whatever he wants from the deck, you aren't going to pat him on the back and praise him for what a good player he is. I don't know, maybe some would.
