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

DefenseRules said:

Question. If the Patriots were the ones who deflated these balls, why wouldn't they have inflated them before the NFL people showed up? they had time. They could have reinflated them on Monday or right after the game to hide it. They didn't, because they didn't know about it. My point here is, if you do something deceitful and you want to get away with it, you hide it while you have a chance. BB will get the blame for this of course, but I blame the Refs and whoever is responsible for making sure those footballs are inflated properly. They didn't do their jobs properly. As for the Colts, I find it odd that they are the only team complaining. How many teams did the Pats play against this year and only this one has a problem?
Long sigh. This did not affect the outcome of the game. The Colts had their own footballs to play with. They have only themselves to blame for sucking.

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Pretty sure the psi mentioned by Mort is from when refs looked at balls at halftime.

Weren't we playing with the same footballs? So what exactly is the advantage for us? Why would we want to use a deflated football?

slash83 said:

Seahawks are dead.

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Not really

Do you think the NFL wants the black eye of NE winning the biggest game of the year? The Refs can make life miserable for the Pats. Its happened before when Seattle got screwed in SB37.

Must admit that I am somewhat deflated by this news...

With all the camera's on the sideline, there has to be way of following the "ball attendant" around and see if any malfeasance took place.. and if it did, the culprit will be obvious..+

Did they check the balls of the Colts??

How high a draft pick can they take?

A 2nd or a 3rd? I would imagine Goodell wants to make an example out of the Pats being another skirting of the rules even so minor.

Mike Reiss chimes in .....

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...d/4776756/patriots-should-be-held-accountable

jsull87 said:

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.

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This is really what it boils down to for me. This is not fair to the fans. We should not have to put up with this BS. If its found out that belichick deliberately did this I'm done defending him. This was completely uncalled for, unneeded, and I'm not going out of my way to defend cheating. I'm so fed up with this crap.

Next year's colts game just became a prime time main event.

They said the colts wasn't a rivalry anymore because luck is likeable and Manning ain't there anymore.

That just changed.

Since there is now doubt that the balls were underinflated, the next step in the investigation must be to see if someone deliberately deflated the balls. Absent video evidence of someone deflating a ball, the whole matter will become a matter of he said, she said. The NFL should watch every minute of film covering the balls during the hours after inspection. If there is no evidence of intentional deflating, then the NFL should polygraph everyone from the ball boy to Robert Kraft. The results should be made public. This information will impact the value of the business commensurate with the level at which involvement is proven.

Of course, as usual, the NFL itself is primarily responsible for allowing this to happen. Regardless of the outcome, the NFL should simply not allow the teams to handle the balls except on the field. I am confident the balls can be manufactured to have a suitable surface.

"Even more damning, however, is the fact that one ball was not under-inflated. Obviously, this was the ball used for kicking"

The kicking balls are completely unrelated. They're brand new (and way more than just one ball) mailed in a box directly to the referee's house by Wilson just prior to the game (loosely paraphrasing the rulebook).

Even though this story is utter horsesh!t in every way and I DON'T believe that BB and Patriots consciously under inflated 11 balls and Is really a non factor because it wouldn't have benefitted just the pats.......this will SEVERELY EFFECT (once again) the Patriots in the upcoming Super Bowl and will FOREVER tarnish the legacy and accomplishments of the New England Patriots.

It doesn't matter that these allegations are totally ridiculous and that if they weighed all footballs especially in cold weather climates....there would be variation in weight.....just like EVERYONE has been taping signals ALL OVER THE FCKING FIELD since the game began......except from the one angle BB's camera man was at for a few minutes......

None of this matters........because now the Patriots, that cheatin Bill Belichick and Robert "Neville Chamberlain " Kraft...... Will be CRUCIFIED and gutted every single minute of every single day UP to the SB and for the rest of the New England Patriots organization 's existence.

We as fans in accordance will get bombarded at EVERY possible opportunity by jackass fans of other teams.....that "your team and their coaches are cheaters"....,all day yesterday that's all I friggin heard....hard to punch out the boss but it came close...can only laugh off the crap so far

Now every day have to avoid every sports channel so we don't have to listen to some ahole talk about how their wins are tainted and that they are cheating scum......

In short once again.....we should be able to ENJOY this time as fans......and savor the build up and interviews......and then ENJOY OUR team playing in the biggest game of all of sports......but all that is over now...instead welcome to heII week(s) part deux.....

Time to brace for impact once again Pats fans.....time to relentlessly defend our team against all the horseshoe!t attacks....here come the pitchforks and witch hunt mob again........$&)@!!!!!

wizwor said:

Since there is now doubt that the balls were underinflated, the next step in the investigation must be to see if someone deliberately deflated the balls. Absent video evidence of someone deflating a ball, the whole matter will become a matter of he said, she said. The NFL should watch every minute of film covering the balls during the hours after inspection. If there is no evidence of intentional deflating, then the NFL should polygraph everyone from the ball boy to Robert Kraft. The results should be made public. This information will impact the value of the business commensurate with the level at which involvement is proven.

Of course, as usual, the NFL itself is primarily responsible for allowing this to happen. Regardless of the outcome, the NFL should simply not allow the teams to handle the balls except on the field. I am confident the balls can be manufactured to have a suitable surface.

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Doesn't matter really......Pats will be (basically already are) found guilty in the eyes of the public and media....for years and years to come

Agree completely....have to stay away from BSPN for the next two weeks.......and living out of Mass have to deal with the relentless attacks of coworkers and so called friends....frigging SUCKS to be in the middle of the angry crazy mob/witch hunt....

MassPats38 said:

The officials handle footballs, thousands of them in a season. They place the ball in play every single down. If there is an issue with the football, as dramatic issue as a 17% pressure differential would appear to suggest, were they suffering from some tactile malfunction the entire game? It makes no sense at all.

Given the fact the effect of temperature on pressure is not novel, I cannot believe these balls would be inspected indoors and brought outdoors (not to mention it was not that cold at game time). Maybe they were. This whole thing just stinks, but I seriously doubt that this was some design scheme because its not like other teams have not intercepted a Brady pass or recovered a fumble. That type of flat ball would have been discovered much earlier than now. The NFL fan bases can now salivate at our disdain in the slow newsweek before the Pro Bowl.

The NFL said a few more days. I am swearing off the media until Thursday, and will wait to hear if my co-workers fire shots at me then to peak at the news again. This is like 2007 all over again with the national media. It sucks.

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Be patient...........this is likely a physics explanation which will exonerate the Pats

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...roversy-creates-a-real-mess-for-patriots-nfl/

Florio not condemning the team to hell. I must be in bizarro world

My question is how can you count on the NFL to do a fair investigation when they are already releasing information before the investigation is finished. This not only seems to be an attempt to taint the outcome. But is blatantly unfair to the Patriots

Out of curiosity did they examine the Colts balls as well??

Bombdog said:

My question is how can you count on the NFL to do a fair investigation when they are already releasing information before the investigation is finished. This not only seems to be an attempt to taint the outcome. But is blatantly unfair to the Patriots

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That was one of my thoughts, how does Mort get this info?? Paving the way for some media relations ploy??

At best it is partial information..

I already have a headache @ 6:30 in the morning..

DarrylS said:

Out of curiosity did they examine the Colts balls as well??

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They couldn't find them. I am sure they were deflated though.

Seriously, I doubt they examined those footballs because there was no Patriot claim that they were deficient.

Someone on the NE staff will fall on his sword for this, but we all know the decision came from Belichick.

Its too bad. BB is so brilliant, but like so many Geniuses also so self destructive. Belichick is like the millionaire who gets caught shoplifting at Walmart. The consequences and fallout (particularly after spygate) of getting caught far outweighed the risk of breaking the rules. Spygate was sort of going away and in the distant past. Not anymore.

The Pats didn't need to deflate the balls is whats so maddening. Blount and Gray could have ran for 300 yards vs the Colts. The Pats are the better coached and more talented team. Probably the best team in the NFL this season and now the season is tainted. The franchise and fan base tainted for something so stupid.

It didn't have to be this way.