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

Beecke said:

No sense in trying to come to meaningful conclusions without the full report available. Right now I would like to know, how they measured psi of every ball. Apparently the refs inflated them at HT to at least 12.5, no? So how do they after the games measure again and find out how it was before the refs caught up on it an reinflated them? Am I missing something?

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I would assume what's being reported now is what they found when they checked at halftime.

simijet said:

In wet weather, an underinflated ball is a little easier to grip and catch. Being that balls are supposed to be inflated anywhere from 12.5 to 13 psi, being under-inflated by 2 psi is somewhat significant. Even more damning, however, is the fact that one ball was not under-inflated. Obviously, this was the ball used for kicking. Thus stated, the Pats would have routed the Colts even if the balls were properly inflated. For this reason, I don't expect the punishment to be anything more than a fine.

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Obviously? An entirely separate set of balls are used for kicking, which are shared by both teams and are under the officials' control throughout the game.

simijet said:

In wet weather, an underinflated ball is a little easier to grip and catch. Being that balls are supposed to be inflated anywhere from 12.5 to 13 psi, being under-inflated by 2 psi is somewhat significant. Even more damning, however, is the fact that one ball was not under-inflated. Obviously, this was the ball used for kicking. Thus stated, the Pats would have routed the Colts even if the balls were properly inflated. For this reason, I don't expect the punishment to be anything more than a fine.

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Brady prefers to throw with footballs that are lower in PSI.

It was rainy.

It's all but a guarantee that the Patriots submitted 11 footballs at 12.5 psi and a kicking ball at 13.5 psi. It's just common sense.

Experts have shown that with the Gay-Lussac Law, a 20 degree drop in temperature, from a 70 degree room to a 50 degree playing field will result in a 1.5 to 1.75 drop in PSI for the footballs.

Thats exactly the results we are seeing here.

That 11 of these footballs were the exact same PSI tells my common sense that we are talking about Mother Nature here, not a sneaky ballboy with a needle and a couple extra hundred dollar bills in his pocket.

Seahawxx said:

Devils advocate


As someone who isn't an expert on air pressure two questions.
Why didn't the cold temperature deflate all 12 footballs? And should the colts balls also be checked for deflation? Theoretically all these balls are composed of the same internal and external properties and these properties all respond equally to the external temperature. So shouldn't all 12/12 balls be deflated and the colts balls should also have been deflated?

Discuss.

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Possibly one was initially overinflated? Who knows. There's a bunch of different plausible explanations here, all I really care about is if the balls were doctored after the refs approved them. As long as the answer to that is no, this whole thing doesn't really bother me. If it's yes, then that's troubling.

Danger Zone said:

Brady prefers to throw with footballs that are lower in PSI.

It was rainy.

It's all but guarantee that the Patriots submitted 11 footballs at 12.5 psi and a kicking ball at 13.5 psi. It's just common sense.

Experts have shown that with the Gay-Lussac Law, a 20 degree drop in temperature, from a 70 degree room to a 50 degree playing field will result in a 1.5 to 1.75 drop in PSI for the footballs.

Thats exactly the results we are seeing here.

That 11 of these footballs were the exact same PSI tells my common sense that we are talking about Mother Nature here, not a sneaky ballboy with a needle and a couple extra hundred dollar bills in his pocket.

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Someone needs to get these numbers to the NFL. tweet it email it call it in. Hell someone close to the HQ drive there

This makes it sound like the refs checked the footballs before the game and they were fine but then someone got to them and took the air out of them after they were checked.

The Patriots used deflated footballs during the AFC Championship game. "11 balls were under inflated by 2 lbs each." Those balls were used solely by the Patriots during the game. "Additionally the officials before the game checked the Patriots game balls and found them to be within the proper range."

Why do teams get to only use their own footballs anyway? The league should just select the footballs and both teams use the same ones.

If there was one that was not underinflated was that the one used for kicking? You definately wouldn't want an under inflated football for kickoffs and FGs.

Oh great, now I hear Belichick is being investigated for getting Elizebeth Warren to do a rain dance before
the game.

Reading this article Ian posted on twitter, each ball is spec'd for the QB to such a fine degree I'm having a hard time imagining you can just drastically change the PSI on any given day without screwing with the QB.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/s...-are-months-in-making.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&

robbomango said:

Reading this article Ian posted on twitter, each ball is spec'd for the QB to such a fine degree I'm having a hard time imagining you can just drastically change the PSI on any given day without screwing with the QB.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/s...-are-months-in-making.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&

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Why does the league even allow balls to be manipulated and spec'd by the teams? Everyone just use the same footballs that come from the league. Maybe this will put an end to that.

I don't know about you guys. But i have spent the last 2 days defending my team and becoming a psi expert.

When i should have been celebrating an AFCCG... i am just so disappointed.

I don't know the facts and I don't plan to guess.

I will not assume innocence or guilt. I will say this though. At this point it would not surprise me if BB did have something to do with this. Also it would not surprise me if other teams and coaches bend the rules with the balls as well depending on what the QB and WRs like.

Rodgers for instance likes them over inflated so perhaps rules for them are bent in that direction. Most coaches in every sport look to gain every competitive inch they can every moment.

BB probably looks to bend rules more than the majority judging from all the things he has done in the past. However the problem is he bends the rules and is successful.

This is the issue.

The Colts pump(ed) noise in. The Seahawks give a lot of dirty shots and do more PEDs than most teams IMO. Players on the ravens (I will not name names) intentionally try to take other players out of the game. Denver does early WR screens like it is going out of fashion.

Every team at least has some (some teams more or less but all have some) players on PEDs.

The whole thing is tainted. All the fishing for calls, bounty gate, spygate, rampant PEDs, ect.

No team is playing 100% by the rules and no team has the right to be self righteous. So if you say the Patriots cheat more than average. You know what; I will probably believe you. I think they bend and break more rules than most teams. That is not the problem though.

The Problem is they do that and win and when you win in a league when winning means a job and money and pretty much everything then what is left for people to do but say and do anything to knock you off your high horse.

Teams will act like they are appalled by these acts and are not doing anything like them on so they can hopefully gain a competitive advantage. Either get a coach suspended or take a draft pick away or anything to hurt you. I was ticked off about it at first but looking at it now I think it is fair enough.

After all; aren't they just trying to win doing just about anything they can think of that won't get them fired or banned? Pretty much like BB if you ask me.

I still haven't understood how much they were underinflated (as european I honestly still have difficulties with your metric system): they are supposed to be between 12.5 - 13.5 PSI. Were the 11 balls found to be at 12.3 PSI or 10.5 PSI? That would make a hell of a difference I suppose. Thanks in advance for any clarification.

we should celebrate another huge WIN another AWESOME AFC CHAMPIONSHIP we should only
think about a great SUPER BOWL btween two very good teams and, instead, we have to 'take care' about this matter...

i am disappointed too now...

Something i consider noteworthy, if the patriots did deflate thr balls, i have a hard time seeing them "testing" this in the afccg.

Just food for thought.

I'm still enjoying the uproar over this. Hopefully we can make it last through the Superbowl. If we win it will be that much sweeter.

PV = nRT. Just saying...

I'm f*cking tired of this sh*t.

I know this won't be a popular opinion around here but if there's a way to tie this to Belichick I think you have to suspend him from the Super Bowl.

I understand they want to get whatever competitive advantage they can, but at some point this isn't about opposing teams or the Patriots vs. the NFL, it's about the fans...you know, the paying customers who shouldn't have to be in the position of feeling deflated about their team being in the Super Bowl. It's embarrassing, and if there was any involvement by the coaching staff it's really quite a shameful and stupid move. Honestly, I'm not f*cking defending these guys if this comes out as the truth.

I'm ridiculously annoyed by all this already, even though I've tried not to care what other fans and media think.
If I didn't love the Patriots so much I'd be done with the increasingly circus like NFL;

Danger Zone said:

Brady prefers to throw with footballs that are lower in PSI.

It was rainy.

It's all but guarantee that the Patriots submitted 11 footballs at 12.5 psi and a kicking ball at 13.5 psi. It's just common sense.

Experts have shown that with the Gay-Lussac Law, a 20 degree drop in temperature, from a 70 degree room to a 50 degree playing field will result in a 1.5 to 1.75 drop in PSI for the footballs.

Thats exactly the results we are seeing here.

That 11 of these footballs were the exact same PSI tells my common sense that we are talking about Mother Nature here, not a sneaky ballboy with a needle and a couple extra hundred dollar bills in his pocket.

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EXCEPT....... The kicking balls are supplied by the manufacturer, who provides a box of balls to the stadium for the referees prior to the game. The box is sealed, and the footballs are only handled, prior to the game, by the referees. Neither team has ANY access to them prior to the game. These balls are marked by the referees as kicking balls, and kept in a separate bag/box, away from the rest of the game balls.

As I said earlier, there's no reason to suspect any intentional actions by New England, and every reason to suspect outside actions, such as weather, for the lower psi of the footballs thus inspected. AND..... it's been more than 48 hours now, and did anyone bother to inspect the Colts footballs for their psi numbers? if not, why not?

We're they 11.2 or 11.0?

30 degree difference in initial temp vs. Game temp can lower the psi by about 1.5 or so. Maybe a little less.

Weird that the last ball wasn't the same psi.