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I predict several phantom OPI, DPI and holding calls against the Pats if they start to pull ahead. I just don't see Goodell allowing a Pats win here. The Times article probably scared him, I think he'll pull the plug no matter how blatant he has to be.

The court's language in that case was disquieting insofar as it lambasted the Patriots for alleged "surreptitious" taping in a 12(b)(4) posture. Normally a court, in a failure to state a claim situation like here, would carefully disclaim that it was accepting all facts pleaded in the...

Although true, this fact also provides the NFL management strong personal reasons for ensuring that the Patriots do not make it to the Super Bowl: because the NFL management's actions would not withstand the glare of objective public scrutiny, they will do what they can to minimize that scrutiny.

If I had to guess - and it's only a guess - I would hypothesize that the root cause of Brady's problems is that the NFL and the owners (a) have monopoly power and (b) are abusing that power. To me, the NFL (as a corporation, and the constituent teams, as a cartel) obviously have monopoly power...

The key issue here is standing: is there some particularized harm that the class members suffer that gives them a right to sue at all? Now as for fraud, it's hard to argue that there has been fraud on the fans themselves, rather on the team. A fan of a team has no standing to sue for every fraud...

Why wasn't Petersen running with two hands on the ball in that play? Shouldn't he have been coached to do so?

Far more likely reaction would be for Goodell now to view this as "total war" and redouble his efforts to smear Brady.

Look how close the playoffs were last year when Brady had all those weapons. Take three of them away this year. And an away game. And in Denver. And add in the clear animus of the NFL management against the Patriots organization. And the defense was even better last year too. Oh, and I don't...

You can hear Brady giving Edelman tips on avoiding drops there.

I agree with your analysis except that it's a bit misleading to call Manning "HOF" and to emphasize the injury report without noting that Manning, whether or not he is injured, is essentially playing as if he is. What's frustrating about this game is that it should have been in Foxboro, when I...

My concern is this. The Chiefs win was not as decisive as it appeared most of the game. There were numerous chances where the Pats avoided a turnover basically through luck. The Broncos defense is better than the Chiefs defense, and the venue is far more unpleasant to play in than Foxboro. I...

In theory CBS is supposed to offer free streaming from their web site. But when I tried it for the divisionals, it had fairly poor resolution (standard at best). NBC, by contrast, offered an HD stream in their app. I couldn't get the stream from the CBS app actually to work at all, just from the...

I'm disappointed we didn't get Urschel. He's smart, even has a great twitter feed, where he posts about math and sometimes chess puzzles. He's a Patriot stuck in the uniform of a Raven. Must be terrible for him with that coach.

Classic agency problem. It's in the best interests of the NFL as an organization to maintain a level playing field. But it's in the best interests of the specific executives in charge of the NFL to harm the Patriots, in order to conceal their own malfeasance. Usually agency problems are dealt...

One of the key flaws in the Exponent Report was that there was no available accurate estimate of the time in which the balls had been in the locker room at half time when they were measured. Since the balls were taken from the outside cold weather conditions to the warmer air of the locker room...

I hate these kinds of statistics.

In football the relevant metric is the differential physical ability at high altitude between players accustomed and unaccustomed to the altitude. Even if a player seems and feels fine, that would not rule out the altitude imperceptibly affecting his strength or stamina which would increase an...

Brady has basically paid two full uncompensated seasons compared to other QBs, just from his postseason appearances (perhaps a bit less due to bonuses). His salary hit would be like being suspended for 30 games. Revis no doubt thinks Brady just doesn't understand how to succeed.

Is there any recourse against phantom OPI calls? Are any of the announcers likely to highlight them? It's for me the major question mark: how blatantly will the NFL be willing to shade the officiating against Brady in such a high-profile game?

Is there clear statistical evidence showing how the altitude in Denver hurts visiting NFL teams? Is there any technique that has been successful in countering that effect?