ESPN: 11 of 12 footballs under inflated by 2 pounds of air.

[FourierSeries]

This is brutal. Countless posts on FB by haters today calling for our 3-rings and saying that our legacy is tarnished. I am sick to my stomach. Not a good omen for this game. Fair or not this is the label our franchise and fans are now labeled with. Heard it from Eagles fans this October that we cheated them out of their SB trophy in 2004. Now this is back with even more force. It led the local news this AM. Unbelievable.

Bring on the haters.

 

[Sicilian]

And a person on here checked pressure in a 64.5 degree room before it was put in 37 degree temperature and an hour later it had dropped 2 PSI

An important step in this investigation would be to recheck the balls after the game in the cold conditions, to see if (once the refs were vigiliantly watching to make sure nothing was happening in the second half) a similar drop occurred. If it didn't, that's damning. If it did, case closed.

Edit addition: That's assuming the balls were warmed back to 72 degrees at halftime for the re-inflating. Otherwise it wouldn't matter.

 

[Big-T]

Guess we'll wait for the report on the investigation. From what's been said they were tested at halftime. So when they actually got to that level, who knows?

Exactly, between the balls being tested pre-game and half time there's what, 4+ hours difference? Most of that time the balls are outside in temperatures that are some 20 or so degrees lower than inside, plus rain means that it's extremely possible, nay, likely it's natural deflation.

"But the Colts were fine!" I hear people exclaim...well, if they over inflated or went to the maximum 13.5 and the Pats 12.5 there's going to be a noticeable difference.

 

[Bella*chick]

While its fun to conduct your own experiments, if BOTH the Pats and Colts balls were tested twice and the Pats dropped a huge amount and the Colts did not drop about the same amount, then you have a major problem claiming weather.

Does anyone know the exact numbers? I'm assuming those will come out at some point.

 

[micronin127]

I think that just like kickers used to push the limits of doctoring footballs to the point where the league said... enough already and introduced the K-ball which comes straight from Wilson and no one is allowed to handle... we are headed that way for all the balls.

Why should each team prepare and provide their own segregated footballs. One common bag of balls straight from the manufacturer that both teams use.

I agree that if the Pats aren't proven to have tampered after balls approved for play, then the penalty is likely monetary. If they get proof that we tampered after balls approved for play, then the sky is the limit on the potential penalty.

I don't think this is as big a deal as everyone is making out, but the defense that anecdotally everybody does it isn't much of a defense. Unfortunately for us, there is a history with the league and scandals that also won't help here.

 

[Big-T]

While its fun to conduct your own experiments, if BOTH the Pats and Colts balls were tested twice and the Pats dropped a huge amount and the Colts did not drop about the same amount, then you have a major problem claiming weather.

Does anyone know the exact numbers? I'm assuming those will come out at some point.

Nobody knows the exact numbers yet.

As far as we know, Mort said a 2 PSI drop occurred but he didn't say from what original PSI...if he went from the league maximum of 13.5 a 2 PSI drop puts the Patriots game balls at 11.5 PSI, 1 under the minimum required.

If the Patriots were at 12.5 and the Colts 13.5 (still hypothetical here) and both lost 1 PSI, the Colts would still be within the range but the Patriots wouldn't.

 

[dales804]

Exactly, between the balls being tested pre-game and half time there's what, 4+ hours difference? Most of that time the balls are outside in temperatures that are some 20 or so degrees lower than inside, plus rain means that it's extremely possible, nay, likely it's natural deflation.

"But the Colts were fine!" I hear people exclaim...well, if they over inflated or went to the maximum 13.5 and the Pats 12.5 there's going to be a noticeable difference.

I wonder how much PSI does drop in that weather. I know we have the physics equations on here but does people handling/holding the ball affect those calculations? We see ball attendants with them in their hands ready to throw in and the centers holding before the snap and the players obviously throwing, running and catching them. Would that body heat affect how much the PSI drops since the ball is not just lying out in the cold?

 

[Patriots1364life]

Bill's shenanigans are getting old.Teams used to break the rules back then.I dont think it was neccesary to deflate balls against a lousy colts team.

 

[Big-T]

I wonder how much PSI does drop in that weather. I know we have the physics equations on here but does people handling/holding the ball affect those calculations? We see ball attendants with them in their hands ready to throw in and the centers holding before the snap and the players obviously throwing, running and catching them. Would that body heat affect how much the PSI drops since the ball is not just lying out in the cold?

Players landing on the ball would also have an effect.

Look at Blount's first TD as an example - everyone but Brady, the CBs and WRs were in that pile so at the very least 17 players were applying pressure to the ball in one way or another.

 

[PrairiePat]

While its fun to conduct your own experiments, if BOTH the Pats and Colts balls were tested twice and the Pats dropped a huge amount and the Colts did not drop about the same amount, then you have a major problem claiming weather.

Does anyone know the exact numbers? I'm assuming those will come out at some point.

Actually the only guy we've heard say that the Colts footballs were even tested was Gerry Austin, who is retired and wasn't there.

Like someone else mentioned, if the Colts and Pats footballs started at different pressures initially (pretty likely), they won't end up in the same range after being out in the cold for a few hours.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Actually the only guy we've heard say that the Colts footballs were even tested was Gerry Austin, who is retired and wasn't there.

Like someone else mentioned, if the Colts and Pats footballs started at different pressures initially (pretty likely), they won't end up in the same range after being out in the cold for a few hours.

The amount of deflation for each set is also impacted by the temperature of the air used to fill them.

 

[FourierSeries]

Correlation does not imply causation, but it's difficult to ignore the fact that there was no advantage for the Pats. In fact, in this particular game, there is a negative correlation between the use of under-inflated balls and performance. The Pats scored 17 points in the 1st half and 28 in the 2nd after the issue was rectified. They played significantly better.

Even more interesting is that Indy played better when the Pats were utilizing under-inflated balls than when the issue was rectified and the Pats were using regulation inflated balls.

Based on this, you could make a case that the point differential would have been even larger had we used properly inflated balls the entire game.

Belichick should be praised for intentionally handicapping our team so as to not drop 70 points on the Colts and embarrassing them even further.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Correlation does not imply causation, but it's difficult to ignore the fact that there was no advantage for the Pats. In fact, in this particular game, there is a negative correlation between the use of under-inflated balls and performance. The Pats scored 17 points in the 1st half and 28 in the 2nd after the issue was rectified. They played significantly better.

Even more interesting is that Indy played better when we were utilizing under-inflated balls than when the issue was rectified and we were using regulation inflated balls.

Based on this, you could make a case that the point differential would have been even larger had we used properly inflated balls the entire game.

Belichick should be praised for intentionally handicapping our team so as to not drop 70 points on the Colts.

Indy wasn't using under-inflated balls. They were using their own and (according to the leaked reports) those were properly inflated at half-time.

 

[BradyManny]

Indy wasn't using under-inflated balls. They were using their own and (according to the leaked reports) those were properly inflated at half-time.

Those poor souls playing with balls inflated slightly more. No wonder they lost. What a shame.

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

It's not even about the final score. It's the fact that after the issue was rectified in the 2nd half, we played even better and outscored you 28-0.

That is also irrelevant. Nobody is arguing the patriots wouldn't have won if it weren't for the deflated balls. Once again, that is not the point, its has never been the point.

 

[FourierSeries]

Indy wasn't using under-inflated balls. They were using their own and (according to the leaked reports) those were properly inflated at half-time.

I know. I never said they did....

 

[BradyManny]

That is also irrelevant. Nobody is arguing the patriots wouldn't have won if it weren't for the deflated balls. Once again, that is not the point, its has never been the point.

No, people are arguing that. It might not be the point, but it should. The NFL, in their handling of the situation, has allowed its idiot followers to give the accusations that much weight.

 

[Connecticut]

Good point from WEEI: Why would the NFL let all of this negative stuff leak out - why would they act so outraged if there wasn't any substance to this and something wasn't done in-game?

Not good.

 

[FourierSeries]

That is also irrelevant. Nobody is arguing the patriots wouldn't have won if it weren't for the deflated balls. Once again, that is not the point, its has never been the point.

What's the issue then?

1. There has been no evidence of wrong doing yet.
2. This may very well be a league wide issue, given Rodgers' statements a while back.

If the league wants everyone to use the same balls, then they should mandate that they utilize the same balls and not give each team control over their own set of balls.

If this provided no advantage, then it is a non issue.

 

[Ring 6]

While its fun to conduct your own experiments, if BOTH the Pats and Colts balls were tested twice and the Pats dropped a huge amount and the Colts did not drop about the same amount, then you have a major problem claiming weather.

Does anyone know the exact numbers? I'm assuming those will come out at some point.

We don't even know how much of what has been leaked is true.
The NFL has a long history of things being leaked that later are not truthful. It happened in 07, it happened in the Saints case, it happened with Rice.

As far as comparative pressures, we do not know all of the variables. For instances could the Patriots balls lost pressure faster because they had twice as much time of possession, therefore the balls not only got used more but were switched in and out more?