Everybody knows that the entire Patriots dynasty was built on a football lie. Remember the Tuck Rule? Of course you do. The bad rule (which nobody knew about before Jan. 19, 2002) was correctly enforced on that snowy night in Foxborough and it turned Tom Brady’s fumble into an incomplete pass, giving birth to 18 years of Do Your Job, No Days Off, and They Hate Us ’Cause They Ain’t Us. The rule was so bad that it was eventually repealed . Brady’s fumble today would be what it should have been that night: a fumble.

Suck it up. The officials stunk in Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Chiefs, but we have to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. Folks around the nation are celebrating New England’s late-season woes, and we only make matters worse by blaming it on the officials.

But it was not a fumble against the Raiders, and since that last night at old Foxboro Stadium, the football gods have been shining on Brady and Bill Belichick. The Patriots have been darn good for the last 18 years but they also have been Fortunate Sons — beneficiaries of more good luck than any team deserves.


The Patriots have the AFC East and the annual incompetence of the Jets, Dolphins, and Bills. The Patriots live in a world where the best player on the other team invariably gets hurt, the better potential playoff opponent (Saints instead of Rams last year) gets mysteriously eliminated by a noncall, and the coach on the other sideline (Pete Carroll) loses his mind. Patriots opponents commit stupid penalties at the worst possible moment. The Raiders and Chiefs lose the coin toss and never touch the ball in overtime. You know how it goes.


Roll the tape back just a couple of weeks ago to when the Patriots beat the Cowboys. Remember those two critical “tripping” calls that went against Dallas? The league apologized for them a few hours after the calls were made. But there was no recourse for the Cowboys. And we all had a good laugh at the expense of Jerry Jones.

Now they are laughing at us, and Patriot fans deserve the mockery. Seriously. Hearing Patriot fans and media bark about officiating is like listening to some guy who once cashed a million-dollar scratch ticket claim the lottery is rigged any time he walks out of 7-Eleven without a winner.

Jerome Boger’s officiating crew did a bad job Sunday, and most of their misses hurt the Patriots. But did you notice that the Chiefs were penalized 10 times for 136 yards, while the Patriots were spanked five times for 25 yards? Can you really be sure that Stephon Gilmore would have scored on that fumble recovery?

And can we strike the narrative that the Patriots lost two touchdowns because of the bad calls? The N’Keal Harry touchdown that wasn’t allowed came on the same drive after Gilmore’s thwarted scoop-and-score. So if the Gilmore TD happens, there is no disputed Harry play. At worst, the summation of the two bad calls is one lost touchdown (where the Patriots scored 3 points instead of 7). Those two bad calls, at worst, cost the Patriots 4 points. Not 14.


The real issue, of course, is the state of the Patriots team — the team that was booed off the field by its own fans at halftime. The longer this season goes, the more it looks like New England’s 8-0 start was fool’s gold. Look at your 10-3 team now and tell me where the good wins are. Pittsburgh in the opener at home? At Buffalo? Those are the only two victories against teams with a winning record.

Thirteen games in, we are supposed to feel good about a team whose best win of the season was against the Buffalo Bills?

The Patriots are going to the playoffs and they probably are going to get a bye. But does this feel like a Super Bowl team?

The Patriots at this hour feature poor pass protection, no running game, and not much of a passing game. They score with help from great field position thanks to their own defense and special teams play. New England’s only offense vs. Kansas City was owed to pass interference calls and trickeration. That is creativity and opportunism. It is not a game plan. It is not sustainable.

Monday’s print edition of the Globe featured a column written by Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star. The word “officials” does not appear in it until the 28th paragraph of a 34-paragraph column.

But if you turned on Patriot State Media (Channels 4 and 38) “Fifth Quarter” after the game, you would have thought this was the biggest heist at a local sports venue since Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner emptied the vault at Fenway Park in “The Town.’’


“It’s part of the give and take,’’ reasoned veteran Chiefs coach Andy Reid. “All part of the human part of the game.’’

Amen.

The officiating in Foxborough Sunday was awful. It worked against the home team. But fans of the New England Patriots lose all credibility when they complain about not getting the breaks.

Forget about the officials. Look in the mirror. Look at your team.