We’re beginning to suspect all the pieces in this Patriot spying fiasco — which we will call Tapes ‘n Tapes from this point forward — don’t quite add up and that the NFL wishes it would all just go away. Short of that, the NFL wishes we would just believe everything it says at every turn. But doing so leaves some statements that are not necessarily outright contradictions but certainly leave one scratching his or her head. Let’s roll:

Sept. 14, 2007, Associated Press: The New England Patriots coach tried again Friday to move on from the sideline spying scandal in which he was fined $500,000 and ordered to forfeit a top draft choice — the latest misstep in a year of distractions for the coach who preaches about avoiding them. … (Video assistant Matt Estrella will not be punished, league spokesman Greg Aiello said, adding that there is no investigation into claims that the Patriots have been doing this for years. “Our goal is to stop this type of conduct going forward and level the playing field,” Aiello said.

Feb. 1, 2008, ESPN.com: “If they’re doing a thorough investigation — they didn’t contact me,” (former video assistant Matt) Walsh told ESPN.com. “So draw your own conclusions. Maybe they felt they didn’t need to. Maybe the league feels they got satisfactory answers from everything the Patriots sent them.” Goodell said at his annual address to the media at the Super Bowl on Friday that the tapes turned over by the Patriots date back only to 2006, well after Walsh had left the organization.

Currently, AP: Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh sent the NFL eight videotapes that show New England violated league rules by recording opposing coaches’ playcalling signals. The tapes include signals by coaches of five opponents in six games from 2000-02, but don’t include video from the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl. The NFL said it received a letter from Michael Levy, the lawyer for Walsh, detailing the tapes that were scheduled to arrive Thursday at the league’s New York offices. The tapes sent to the NFL show the Patriots recorded signals in regular-season games against Miami, Buffalo, Cleveland and San Diego, and against Pittsburgh in the 2002 AFC championship game. “This is consistent with what the Patriots had admitted they had been doing, consistent with what we already knew,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.

We’re confused. Maybe there’s an explanation we’re not seeing, but this is what we’re reading by connecting the dots: The NFL was not investigating cheating done by the Patriots prior to the incident with the Jets that got Belichick in trouble; all the tapes the Patriots turned over were from 2006 or later; but now these tapes the NFL is about to receive from 2000-2002 are somehow consistent with what they already knew about the Patriots cheating? Maybe all Aiello meant was that these new tapes will show similar kinds of evidence as the more recent tapes already in the NFL’s possession. Still, this all doesn’t seem to add up. And we have to think there should be more of a punishment coming to the Patriots and Belichick, particularly if the part about the AFC title game is true.

Speaking of Tapes ‘n Tapes, this might be the best video to come from the whole affair. It’s for the song, “Hang Them All.“

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