Deflategate

[Baron Scicluna]

Don't the refs usually weigh the balls anyways before they go out on the field?

 

[poindexter]

Some good information
Reports: D'Qwell Jackson's INT Triggered Deflated Ball Investigation

 

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

Because I have yet to see it addressed anywhere, am I to assume it is impossible for a ball to naturally lose deflation in the five hours between it is inspected and the end of a game? This kind of situation never comes up organically?

 

[Boom_70]

Some good information
Reports: D'Qwell Jackson's INT Triggered Deflated Ball Investigation

How do we know that The Colts equipment mgr did not deflate the Jackson ball ?
It's the Ryan Braun chain of custody argument.

Perhaps in bad weather The NFL should look to deflate the balls if it makes them easier to
throw and catch. It would seem to make for a better game.

 

[Rhody31]

I don't think you understand how this works.

The two teams don't play with the same balls. They have their own for offensive possessions.

I understand how it works. The media running with the story doesn't because when it broke, they all agreed it hurt Luck and the Indy passing game because Kravitz said the deflated balls would hurt Andrew Luck and the Indy passing attack, but by the afternoon the angle changed to the deflated balls would help Brady throw the ball.
So, which one is it? Because if the original story premise is bogus, anything that comes after it is probably BS too.
But facts, right?

 

[Rhody31]

Some good information
Reports: D'Qwell Jackson's INT Triggered Deflated Ball Investigation

First, I'm going to say that this is a crazy conspiracy theory, but I'm only adding this before the theory so people understand I'm saying this very tongue in cheek.
Isn't it equally as possible Jackson picked the ball off, gave it to a manager who deflated just enough to make the Patriots look bad, got it put back into play so the refs would notice and all this was done as a way to take the focus off the Colts getting their faces beat in?
Because that sounds just as likely as the Patriots finding a way to deflate 24 balls that have been in possession of NFL officials in the hour before game time.

 

[Vombatus]

This all presumes they have those little inflation needles handy to do the deflation.

I don't know about you folks, but whenever I need one of those needles, I can't find one.

 

[da man]

This all presumes they have those little inflation needles handy to do the deflation.

I don't know about you folks, but whenever I need one of those needles, I can't find one.

Equipment managers have everything.

 

[Rhody31]

Apparently Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are bigger cheaters than Belichick and the Patriots.
http://vid809.photobucket.com/albums/zz11/mascho030916/Football Central/ScreenCaptureProject295.mp4

 

[SnarkShark]

I understand how it works. The media running with the story doesn't because when it broke, they all agreed it hurt Luck and the Indy passing game because Kravitz said the deflated balls would hurt Andrew Luck and the Indy passing attack, but by the afternoon the angle changed to the deflated balls would help Brady throw the ball.
So, which one is it? Because if the original story premise is bogus, anything that comes after it is probably BS too.
But facts, right?

If THE MEDIA thought it hurt Luck and Indy, they are idiots. I'm not sure what you read, but I didn't hear or read anything about it impacting Indy.

 

[da man]

If THE MEDIA thought it hurt Luck and Indy, they are idiots. I'm not sure what you read, but I didn't hear or read anything about it impacting Indy.

Rhody, did you listen to that clip you posted about Rodgers? Simms was saying Rodgers was the exception because he wants the ball overinflated -- "Everybody wants it smaller and soft so they can dig their fingers into it."

 

[LongTimeListener]

If THE MEDIA thought it hurt Luck and Indy, they are idiots. I'm not sure what you read, but I didn't hear or read anything about it impacting Indy.

Rhody lives in a parallel universe where the media hates Brady, Belichick, the Red Sox and everything else Boston.

 

[schiezainc]

I know Patriots fans are sick of the cheating talk, schiez, but that is the price of what they did with Spygate and having the commissioner do everything in his power to sweep it under the rug as quickly as possible. Trust me. I get it. Seahawks fans didn't really stop whining about Super Bowl XL until their team won it all last year. Some of them still do it when given the opportunity. The difference being the Patriots really did get caught cheating in Spygate and the league did something shady in destroying the evidence so quickly without really explaining why it was done.

As SnarkShark explained, the Patriots use the balls they supply when on offense. A slightly deflated ball is easier to throw and catch, especially in cold, wet conditions. My understanding is the officials felt something was wrong with the ball. This doesn't come from the Colts. Perhaps we will find out differently in time, but assuming sour grapes sounds more like a fanboy thing to me. Your guys are going to take some heat on this one and even if they are innocent, the history under this coach simply makes that something you have to live with.

Do I think deflated balls made a difference against the Colts? No. I'm not even sure they are guilty this time and they blew that team out. Do I think Spygate was the reason they won those three Super Bowls? No. Do I dismiss that it played some role completely? Not really, but even if none of it changed the result of a game, it would still be cheating.

No, I get it. The Pats have a reputation for "cheating" and so they're never given the benefit of the doubt nor should they be. But that being said, enough is enough.
Regarding the Spygate stuff, the basic premise is every coach in the league was videotaping sidelines to get an advantage by stealing signals. This includes the Patriots. The NFL told coaches to stop it. The Patriots didn't. They got caught. They got hammered. Rightfully so.
Fine. Hammer New England on it. Pretend is made some big difference. But did it really? Really?
Do you think without "stealing" (and I put it in quotes because everyone did it) opponent's signals, the Pats wouldn't have made Kordell Stewart look like the garbage QB he was? Did "stealing" have anything to do with the Rams forgetting they had a running back in that first Super Bowl? Did "stealing" force the Panthers to kick the ball offsides, thereby giving Brady and company a chance to run down the field to win a second SB? Did "stealing" make Donovan McNabb throw up all over himself when it counted? Did "stealing" cause Peyton Manning to play horribly in various playoff games at Gillette?
Nope.
And even after the "stealing" crap was exposed, the Pats came within one miraculous catch of beating a VASTLY superior Giants team in SB42 and going perfect on the season. And they were within one defensive stop of beating that same Giants team four years later for another ring.
My point is, I get the hate for New England. You win long enough, people will hate you (See: Bulls, Chicago, NBA).
But anyone who is dumb enough to really thing these ticky-tack BS scandals actually impacted the game itself and determined who won or lost should never be treated seriously in a sports discussion. It's insane.

 

[LongTimeListener]

They cheated to win a game at the final gun. It seems pretty clear that cheating gave them some advantage.

(They also had a very curious turnaround at halftime of the Tuck Rule game that year. Brady couldn't do **** in the first half, when they scored zero points, and then all of the sudden starting midway through the third quarter he couldn't miss. Things that make you go hmmmmm.)

They've won enough close games with enough curious goings-on, particularly at home, that it's fair to say they've benefited.

 

[bigpern23]

I haven't found a link to the article yet, but I was listening to WFAN this morning and they referenced a story from four years ago in which Tom Brady discussed preferring to throw a ball that is under inflated.

 

[schiezainc]

They cheated to win a game at the final gun. It seems pretty clear that cheating gave them some advantage.

(They also had a very curious turnaround at halftime of the Tuck Rule game that year. Brady couldn't do **** in the first half, when they scored zero points, and then all of the sudden starting midway through the third quarter he couldn't miss. Things that make you go hmmmmm.)

They've won enough close games with enough curious goings-on, particularly at home, that it's fair to say they've benefited.

As a long-time Patriots fan, I can tell you there are somewhere close to 45% of their games where they don't do **** in the first half and come out looking good in the second half. But that's every team in the league every week. The entire point of halftime for coaching staffs is to figure out what they've screwing up, what the opponent is doing well, and tweak it from there.
The Pats aren't alone in this.
And, I just looked this up, Brady was 6-for-12 for 71 yards in that first half. Hardly impressive numbers, sure, but given the conditions and the fact that he was in his first playoff game, I would say that's about right.
Not to mention the Pats were only down 7-0 at the half. It's not like they were down by 30 and somehow everything changed in that game.

 

[da man]

I just did a Google search on Belichick and Gibbs and could find no reference to any bad blood prior to that 2007 game (well, one, but it was from an Onion-esque outlet). All the references that day were to Belichick wanting to stick it to the league (and world) in general because of the Spygate stuff.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I just did a Google search on Belichick and Gibbs and could find no reference to any bad blood prior to that 2007 game (well, one, but it was from an Onion-esque outlet). All the references that day were to Belichick wanting to stick it to the league (and world) in general because of the Spygate stuff.

You don't live in the Rhody media parallel universe, so you wouldn't know that story.

 

[wicked]

Where Mike Rosenberg from SI throws a bunch of stuff up against the wall and hope something sticks:

DeflateGate allegations against Bill Belichick, Patriots should come as no surprise - NFL - SI.com

 

[schiezainc]

Where Mike Rosenberg from SI throws a bunch of stuff up against the wall and hope something sticks:

DeflateGate allegations against Bill Belichick, Patriots should come as no surprise - NFL - SI.com

Woah. How did you link a story from the supposed parallel universe? Amazing.