What say you, LB??? Looks like trouble for NE.

http://nypost.com/2015/01/20/nfl-pro...nder-inflated/

 

No wonder Indy lost. They had to use the one (1) properly inflated ball all game while the Pats used the other 11. I wonder how they marked that ball so the officials would make sure only Indy got it.

-- Chuck

 

I heard the below on a local sports talk show yesterday morning.

Each team has 12 footballs which are rotated during that teams possession and each team takes care of those footballs as far keeping them clean, dry, etc. And in the rule book , it doesn't mention a penalty (loss of down, 15 yards etc) if the ball is over/under inflated.

 

I knew nothing about this rule, so when I let some air out of the balls I didn't know I was doing anything wrong. I thought the balls felt very hard and I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I think safety is the most important thing.

But all joking aside, if they did this on purpose, it was stupid. And at this point I have trouble seeing how they did this accidently. Still, there are some anomalies. I'm very curious to learn what the officials did before the game to certify that the balls met the league requirements. We have not heard anything about that yet. Also, since the officials handle the balls between every play, I don't understand why the refs did not notice this.

Many people have pointed out that the balls deflate a bit when taken from the heated rooms where they are kept onto the field. I don't really see that making too much of a difference here. The outside temp was in the 40s during most of the game. So I think there was less than a 25 degree difference. But I have a feeling that won't matter much. I don't know where the balls were when the league tested them for the investigation. I assume they let them warm up indoors before they tested them so the temp difference between outside and inside really should not be a factor. But I don't know that, so again, I'm waiting to hear more.

I don't know what device is used to test the balls. I keep reading about the weight of the balls, but I can't imagine they use the weight to determine the inflation. I would think a gauge would be used. Is there any inaccuracy in the gauges that were used at game time versus the gauges used for the investigation? Again, I don't know.

In the end, if the league determines that they broke the rule, they will pay the penalty as prescribed by the league. Just like every other rule infraction that we see during every single game of the NFL season.

Finally, I think the Patriots will use this issue to their advantage. The rest of the country will be saying the only way the Pats can win is by cheating. that will rev them up real well for the Super Bowl

 

Think I'll wait for the NFL's official ruling before passing judgement. ESPN's been wrong before.

And C'mon ...this from the NEW YORK POST.....I'd expect then to be bashing the PATS every chance they got.

 

I'm just glad that this is another taint on Bill B, Tom B, and Gronk.

 

I have to say I'm a bit surprised no one has posted anything slightly off-color with regard to this topic. Looks like Vintage membership has gotten a lot more sophisticated in recent times.

 

Understood. Whatever gets you through the off season.

 

^ Would you like to, Mike??

 

If this is proven my faith in this team is very disappointing. I don't think a deflated ball would have made that much of a difference since the Colts offense was flat. However, after the Spy Game incident against the Jets I can't believe they would pull a trick like this. I'm no fan of Belichek and even less of a fan now.