Surely there will be Spygate questions for the tight-lipped Belichick and his charges. But they will be deflected with the ease of a Brady pass to Wes Welker in the flat. The Patriots are great at football, but they might be even better at closing ranks and delivering the day’s talking points in unison. If Belichick’s response to Spygate inquiries is essentially, “Ugh,” then you can be sure each of his players will say “Ugh” with almost the same lack of enthusiasm.

Therefore, the topic of Spygate will die a quick Super Bowl death, and the world’s media will be steered to the areas Belichick enjoys discussing, which is anything football-related that requires a canned response.

Spygate will not tarnish the Patriots’ legacy any more than Randy Moss’ domestic contretemps will ruin the commissioner’s party. For one thing, it happened in the season opener, which seems so long ago. A lot has transpired since then, within the Patriots’ bailiwick and also league-wide. Spygate has been lost in the maelstrom of upsets, fired coaches and frequent strip club sightings of Pacman Jones.

More significantly, because the spying incident occurred in early September, it has been overshadowed by the Patriots themselves. Their march toward an unbeaten season has stolen the very headlines they generated with their clandestine no-no. If they had gotten caught in, say early November, there probably would be much more outrage, and more of a sense that somehow they cheated to reach this point. But early September? If there is an ideal time to get pilloried by both the league office and the nation’s pundits for cheating, that’s it.

Also, to paraphrase an old passage, let he who is without video camera under his jacket cast the first complaint to Roger Goodell. Does anyone who closely follows the intensely competitive adventures of the league’s franchises really believe Belichick and his staff cheated while everybody else remained pure? That’s like suggesting Barry Bonds took performance-enhancing drugs but all those other guys in the Mitchell report were framed.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos

After Spygate broke, there were reports that the Jets spied on the Patriots last season, although Jets coach Eric Mangini claimed they had permission to do so, which was then disputed. But every NFL practice facility and stadium is usually in lock-down mode for fear that some nefarious surveillance expert hired by a competitor will come in and upset the balance of parity by pilfering information and gaining a competitive advantage. If Belichick and his staff were nailed, you can be reasonably sure the practice isn’t new, and indeed is rampant.

Spygate will join a long and illustrious list of memorable events in sports history that people quickly forget about. Meanwhile, the Patriots will forge ahead, in pursuit of new and more imaginative ways to sneak their way to victory.