The New England Patriots are being investigated by the NFL for potentially deflating footballs during their AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
WTHR reporter Bob Kravitz reported the news early Monday morning and says the league is looking into the possibility that the Pats deflated the balls. Kravitz says an official even took a ball out of play and weighed it at one point in the game.
In this video from the third quarter, you can see something funky going on with the game balls:
League rules are very specific about game balls. Here is the language via NFL.com:
The home club shall have 36 balls for outdoor games and 24 for indoor games available for testing with a pressure gauge by the referee two hours prior to the starting time of the game to meet with League requirements. Twelve (12) new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours prior to the starting time of the game. These balls are to be specially marked with the letter “k” and used exclusively for the kicking game.
Game balls are supposed to have between 12.5-13.5 pounds per square inch of pressure and weigh between 14 and 15 ounces.
Kravitz reports that if the league determines the Patriots were deflating footballs, that will result in the loss of draft picks as punishment.
Why would a team want to deflate a ball? As many people who have played the sport can tell you, it is much easier to throw and catch a more deflated ball, so it definitely aids the passing game. And if the Patriots were able to rig things so they were using deflated balls while the Colts were using normal balls, that would give New England a big advantage, though not one large enough to make up the 45-7 margin.
For the record, Tom Brady went 23/35 for 226 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Andrew Luck went 12/33 for 126 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in his worst game of the season.
Check out this funny artist rendering by @Nick_Pants:
smh patriots pic.twitter.com/LZ2PANpAhR
— nick pants (@nick_pants) January 19, 2015
When you think about the Patriots already losing a first-round pick for filming opponents’ signals in the Spygate scandal, then you factor in their 4-man formations that ticked off the Ravens the previous weekend, and then this, it becomes clear that the Pats cheat or sometimes use unethical conduct to gain edges. If they are ever in need of a new offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin would probably fit in perfectly on the staff.
