Patriots reportedly used backup footballs in second half

The New England Patriots reportedly used “backup footballs” in the second half of their AFC Championship Game win over the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday.

While an earlier report from ESPN Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City indicated that the Patriots’ game balls were reinflated at halftime and put back into circulation for the second half, team spokesman Stacey James told WEEI.com on Wednesday that the Patriots used their backup balls in the second half.

NFL teams bring 24 footballs with them (not including the kicking balls), and 12 are tested and used with 12 others left inside the locker room as backups. After 11 of the 12 footballs the Patriots used in the first half were reportedly found to be under-inflated, WEEI.com’s source says the backup balls were tested, found to be at the right level and put into play for the second half.

The second half had apparently already started by the time the testing of the backup balls was completed, which probably explains that video we showed you of the officials shuffling balls a few seconds into the second half.

As we mentioned earlier, Tom Brady was 12 of 14 for 155 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the second half. If he put up those numbers using a legal ball, it seems obvious the less inflated ball did not have a major impact on this particular game. And if the Patriots have been cheating and using deflated balls all season without getting caught, it’s interesting that Brady wasn’t lost when he was forced to use a “normal” ball.