JamieH

January 20th, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^

Not the dumbest thing ever actually. 

 

I was rooting for the Patroits.  Still am.  But it depends on just how low the balls were underinflated.  If we're talking about a miniscule amount this is probably no big deal--it probably means that they were trying to put the balls at the lower limit of the inflation rules and then it got colder.  Air pressure goes down when the air gets colder. 

 

However if the balls were SIGNIFICANTLY underinflated, it would mean they setup the balls already outside of the rules.  That could be pretty uncool, especially if they did it to f*** with Luck's ability to throw the ball. 

 

Pretty hard to say exactly what effect it had on things, but it would be more than "nothing".  It certainly didn't win them the game, but that was just because the game didn't end up being close.   The league will punish them as if it had been a close game. 

 

If they intentionally set up the balls outside of the guidelines, they will almost certainly get a pretty big penalty.  If they can prove they setup the balls on the low end of the guidelines and it just got colder, it probably won't be so bad. 

 

EDIT: Just re-read the link.  If the balls were really low by 2 PSI, the penalties are going to be big.  That is deliberate.  Can't see how that could have been accidental due to the weather.

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Auerbach

January 20th, 2015 at 11:53 PM ^

Some people are claiming that each team supplies its own balls. Not sure if true but Ive seen that mentioned in several places. If thats accurate, then the patriots' deflated balls would have no effect on Luck.

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JamieH

January 21st, 2015 at 12:00 AM ^

HOWEVER I believe only the home team's balls are used UNLESS something is deemed to be wrong with them.  That is what happened at the beinning of the 3rd quarter when the refs suddently switched out footballs.

This is different than in college where each team uses its own football on offtense. 

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bo_lives

January 21st, 2015 at 12:00 AM ^

"The balls are required be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch and weigh between 14 and 15 ounces."

And according to Twitter, "NFL has found that 11 of the Patriots footballs used in Sunday’s AFC title game were under-inflated by 2 lbs each, per league sources."

So a 2 PSI decrease is quite a bit. The temperature at game time was in the mid to upper 40s although the wind chill could have potentially played a factor as well. If the original test was in the ref's locker room in the upper 70s you would expect at maximum there would be a decrease of ~1 PSI...

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JamieH

January 21st, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^

that's what I was thinking too.  Plus I'm assuming they are measuring the balls again now under warmer conditions, so the air would have expanded back.  So if the balls are low even when they are warm, it means there were even flatter out there in the cold.

 

I would say the big question now is, did the officiials approve the flat balls, in which case the officials f***ed up, or did the Patriots take air out of the balls AFTER they were approved, in which case they are headed to Boliva? 

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stephenrjking

January 21st, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^

I've been wondering this, though: suppose the Pats deliberately inflated the balls with hotter air in a hot room. The balls are checked right after they're received, 2.5 hours before kickoff. They check out at the time... but could they be holding enough heat to lose 2-3 lbs after 3 hours?

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ghostofhoke

January 21st, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^

Well then they should instruct the officials to spot check the balls during he game if they care so much. They officials have their hands on the balls on every single possession before they're put into play. His is complete nonsense. For the record I hate the Pats but im starting to hate ESPN much more.



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asquared

January 20th, 2015 at 11:57 PM ^

Did they check Indy's balls to? If not, what did they use as a control group to show that this wasn't a natural deflation over the course of the game in those environmental conditions? Is there a record of what the inflation of the balls were when the ref checked (and approved) them before the game?

 

 

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jmstranger

January 21st, 2015 at 12:02 AM ^

I feel as if this might be a similar situation to "Spygate." Everyone deflates their balls to a degree and Indy just complained to the league about it first knowing the impression it gives the Patriots. Clearly there is some messing around with the air pressure on all teams, Aaron Rogers was just complaining that he doesn't get to keep them the way he wants them all the time. 

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jmstranger

January 20th, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^

Disclaimer: I am a Patriots fan. 

If they were deflated on purpose by someone in the organization against league rules then I think there should definitely be some punishment. I don't think this in any way affected the outcome of the game though. Further, wouldn't it be easy to eliminate this as a possibility by simply having both teams use the same balls which are in the sole possesion of the refs like the K balls used for kickoffs?

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AZ-Blue

January 20th, 2015 at 11:59 PM ^

So what does 2 lbs of air translate into diameter change?   Probably minute, but they don't pursue that anaylsis.  High drama.   Run with that Espn.

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ckersh74

January 21st, 2015 at 12:01 AM ^

It is my understanding that the referees inspect the balls before the game and lock them away. If this is the case, and the balls were indeed underflated, then why on earth did the referees allow this in the first place, long before game time?

Something here does not add up. 

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JamieH

January 21st, 2015 at 12:10 AM ^

two possibilities.

 

1)  The refs were careless and didn't check the balls very carefully. 

2)  Someone on the Patriots staff has a key to that ball locker

 

I'd say option 1 is likely.  I mean, they played with the balls for an entire half and the refs never noticed anything wrong with them.  If they felt super flat wouldn't they have notcied?  They touch the ball on every play.  I don't really notice my basketball is a bit flat until I go to dribble it.  Just holding it doesn't really tell me it's flat.  So maybe they never checked them super carefully to begin with?

 

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jonvalk

January 21st, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^

I'm just curious how in the hell they're going to prove this was intentional and lay it at a specific person's feet. Do you really think there's some video of a ball-boy deflating balls on the sideline? Not to mention, how does a Colts DB immediately recognizes a deflated ball upon touching it once and the ref, who handles the ball each play, doesn't? I'm sorry, even as a Pats homer, I'm still trying to be objective. If they can prove it, hit those responsible hard, but something seems off here.



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RJMAC

January 21st, 2015 at 1:12 AM ^

Are we to believe that a head coach who is as detail oriented as Belichick, would allow some ball runner to doctor footballs without his approval? And also to mess with footballs without the input of his all pro QB, who has to handle them on every play ?

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RJMAC

January 21st, 2015 at 1:12 AM ^

Are we to believe that a head coach who is as detail oriented as Belichick, would allow some ball runner to doctor footballs without his approval? And also to mess with footballs without the input of his all pro QB, who has to handle them on every play ?

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CJRockford

January 21st, 2015 at 12:08 AM ^

If it doesn't give you an advantage then why do it? Stupid. Now we have to hear about this for the next two weeks (and more if NE wins), which means we have to hear about Spygate all over again. That's it, I'm just watching the Super Bowl for the commercials



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RobM_24

January 21st, 2015 at 12:13 AM ^

Personally, I think this is more of a black eye for the NFL than the Pats. If it's truly such a huge advantage, then they should have steps in place to make sure a team can get an advantage. It reminds me of pitchers doctoring the ball in baseball.

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