Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

This is bad if the 11 are uniform. The Patriots could have inflated the balls with hot air which increases the PSI before they are measured then they decrease as they cool. This would actually be legal

Doing the math

12.5 PSI at 136 degrees = 10.5 PSI at 45 degrees

If the rule books don't ban it it is legal. As I said I do car racing. F1 is similar as far as how teams deal with rules as Bellicheck does. If the NFL does not want this then they need to explicitly ban it and then test the balls after the game. There would be nothing illegal in filling the balls with hot air before inspection knowing they would decrease after cooled but I doubt this is what they did.

This sucks

PatriotsInGA said:

I applaud you Dikembe, but I'm afraid not even your great optimism and fandom can lift our spirits at the moment. We're at the mercy of the NFL

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BRO
PATRIOT WILL BE FINE. BLESS AARON RODGER, AS HE HAS SAVED US FROM BEING LONE WOLVES IN THIS FIGHT
THERE WILL BE NO SUSPENSION. THERE WILL BE NO FORFIETS. THERE WILL BE NO LOSS OF HIGH DRAFT PICK. THERE MAY BE SMALL FINE. WHO GIVES FUK THOUGH? WE WILL WIN SUPER BOWL AND THE HATERS WILL CRY AND WHINE

nowayback said:

League will have to prove the Pats balls were not sabotaged .

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No they don't. It's not a court of law. They can make their own determinations...

so the balls were corrected to 13 psi at half-time

patsfan06 said:

Okay, maybe the weight isn't the issue. The different in the softness of a ball that is 13 PSI and 11 PSI is significant.

Once again, I'm not passing the blame off the Pats. This is absolutely a Belichick type tactic.

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It's not very significant. Refs didn't notice it. I wouldn't have noticed it. Why not try it with a ball in your home.

You'd have to think that if it was 11 out of 12 balls, it had to be intentional. If so, our team had to be punished accordingly. From what I understand, the punishment is 25k and a draft choice. Since it's so blatant, I expect it to be way more than 25k and a very high draft choice. There is no defending this if the NFL truly has proof. No defending Belichick anymore. 2nd time he has cheated. There is no defending Kraft for allowing a coach to cheat. This is just an embarrassment to the organization, and the legacy of this team has been ruined. I would not be surprised if Kraft fires Belichick.

It's unfortunate too, the Colts had no chance in the game, and now, despite the margin of victory, this game will forever be tainted. The 45-7 game will forever be an asterisk. I for one am disgusted. May not even watch the Super Bowl now. No way the Pats win this game, and if they do, it'll be looked like they cheated there way to a championship anyway. This is truly disgusting and I'm sick of this Belichick ********.

FourierSeries said:

That's ridiculous. There is no way they will have the Pats forfeit the SB. What would they do, skip it altogether? Or have a team that got destroyed the previous week play in it instead of us?

Belichick being suspended for all of 2015 is a possibility though.

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I see this as a possiblity even if BB knows nothing about it. He is going to held responsible.

shmessy said:

This is a very trying moment.

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Until they have a person/method/reason, the psi measurement means almost nothing.

Show416 said:

Sadly, if anyone is responsible it's probably Brady. Why would belichick under inflate balls without his quarterbacks consent...?

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Could be partly responsible. I feel like vomiting this is sucks so badly. I can't listen to any sports media for a while if all this is true. We will never hear the end of it.

I mean seriously.

You tell me how the balls came in under inflated. I want evidence that it was not only done on purpose but it came from the patriots.

So these refs, who are supposed to inspect these game balls, deem them all to be up to code and good to go. No one finds fault.

These refs then handle the ball on every play the Pats go through on offense. Again, no one finds fault.

Brady throws an interception to D'Qwell Jackson, and only he, finds the ball to be a bit light, thus reporting to the Colts Equipment Manager, then Pagano, etc, etc, etc.

So with all that, these questions remain:
- Why didn't the refs check the air pressure before the game?
- If the refs did, how in the world did the Pats deflate 11 out of 12, mid-game?
- If the refs didn't, why not? And that would make this gaff on the refs
- Why didn't the line judge notice a difference in the balls all game long, when a Colts linebacker who made interception could quickly tell?

I don't get this, at all. This report is not making this situation look very good...

jmt57 said:

Ben Volin ‏@BenVolin 32 seconds ago

Globe confirms that game officials discovered at halftime that game balls were underinflated. Tested each ball twice with different gauges

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If they knew at half then they found new balls for the rest of the half I assume.

I just can't believe this.

We have demolished the colts 3 times before, all of them within the rules. Why would BB or anyone in the pats organisation think that we needed an illegal edge? This is insane!!

This is so frustrating, we have the best team here, we don't need to cheat our way to the top. It's all becoming too much of a distraction.

I hope it all gets clarified soon enough. I don't know what to believe, to read.

I just hope our team responds with the fire they had in 2007 against the Chargers.

We will use this as motivation and destroy the Seahawks. Just watch.

In BB I STILL trust.

Seanzayyy said:

Who is actually responsible for filling the balls with air on the individual level?

Could it be, that that person just simply goofed on all the balls and the refs failed to do their test? Idk how much of a difference it would be grip wise but it might not have been a reasonable difference on the field and the players either didn't notice it at all or did notice but assumed they were OK due to the refs examination of the balls before kickoff and therein trusted that the balls were in tolerance.

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There's another element here too. mort said the refs get the balls on Friday. We'll, on Friday it was cold, and it warmed up. Where were the balls kept? In someone's car? Certainly not in a hotel room. When were they inflated?

Boston Boxer said:

If we are found guilty of deflating the balls, then BB needs to be fired. Sorry to say, but if we are caught, then he needs to go. this is just plain embarrassing.

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Suspended for one year, perhaps... but not fired. It will all depend.

Seems to me that if the balls were submitted under pressure, and the refs just were to lazy to check them, then the onis is on them. League punishment will not be very severe (public opinion: different story).

If there is evidence that the balls were tampered with post ref inpection, then we are "deservedly" screwed. That in my opinion is cheating outright.

I hope they weigh the balls for the SuperBowl live on TV before the game, and then we blow out Seattle.

upstater1 said:

It's not very significant. Refs didn't notice it. I wouldn't have noticed it. Why not try it with a ball in your home.

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Dude, a linebacker noticed it.

A freakin' linebacker.

NJPatsfan26 said:

so then this would be on the refs then?

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Since the measurement was during the game, physics could explain most of the drop. Going from 70F to 50F would be about a 1.5 PSI drop (as people here have calculated), and the balls are reported to have been measured at 11 PSI.

So it could be physics, it could be that the refs didn't do their job pre-game, or it could be that NE cheated. Can't tell from what we know.

One thing about all this BS is people keep blaming just BB. But if a defensive player could intercept a ball and immediately know it was funny. Then the all the offensive players who touch the ball also knew. So either it was a giant conspiracy by the entire team. Or it was hardly noticeable, and didn't make any difference at all to the offense, refs or anyone else and is just normal.