Who will slow down the juggernaut that is The New England Patriots?
It's become very obvious that the Patriots are the best team in the league, but are they intentionally humiliating teams in an effort to send a message to the league and commissioner? It makes sense that starters need to play a full game and be conditioned for instances where they'll need to be ready to play a full game later in the season or playoffs. It also makes sense to run your offense as you normally would, but when does the coach cross the line when the game becomes out of hand.
It's best to check the past Patriots teams and ask when Belichik had a game in hand did he look to "run up the score" or play the game with a professional courtesy. Everyone can agree that it's the defens' job to stop and offense and get off the field anytime they want, if they stop someone.
The issue is whether kicking a field goal or going for it is rubbing it in. In the '80's coaches had an 'old code' of professional courtesy. Teams would run the ball and it would be up to the defense to stop what they knew was coming, another running play. The offense would only pass to secure a first down and keep the clock moving. Throwing a 5 yard pass where the receiver runs through the defense for a 50 yard touchdown is far different then a 50 yard bomb down the field.
Another interesting play selection is going for it close to the goal line. In a portion of opportunities the choice has been to pass the ball resulting in a touchdown rather than a choice of running the ball and either picking up the first down due to the failure of the defense or turning the ball over on downs when the play fails.
The argument has been made that going for it is less humiliating than kicking a field goal. The rebuttal for such a case would be that in any other situation in a close game a defense would always consider a field goal a moral victory than surrendering a touchdown. Holding your opponent to a field goal and getting the ball back in the hands of the offense is the name of the game. If a lead is in hand, then how many touchdowns would need to be scored to put the Patriots in jeopardy when their ahead by 30 points. Trading field goals for touchdowns would take more touchdowns than the opposition had probably already scored in the game and be nearly impossible, so why run the score up? Maybe this could be the way of the cementing a legacy and dynasty status for the Patriots as the most dominating team in recent memory with or without a video tape incident. After all, how could you argue that video taping provided much help when a team is pounding the opposition into the ground on a weekly basis.
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I see your point in certain cases. For example, the Redskins. When they played them, some commented that they ran up the score. Well I didn't see it that way, and after the Pats-Bills game, that solidified it. 35-7, 4th and goal and they go for it? That's humiliation.