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[Tawpgun]

Oh I see, so it's okay to cheat as long as you're not caught red handed at the time.

Dude. If the balls were 2 lbs lower than expected, and the refs caught that they would tell the pats to go back and inflate them properly and no one would bat an eye.

Assuming officials did their job, the balls were good to go and legal 15 minutes prior to kick off. I am just struggling to find out HOW THE HELL ITS POSSIBLE to secretly deflate footballs after that last weigh in without there being some kind of video evidence from the 40+ cameras in that stadium. Not counting the sports photographers and everyone int he stands.

 

[EASTC0AST_GH05T]

Of course.

get ready to formulate that nice conspiracy theory now. The tinfoil hat is over there >>>

 

[tfur]

Whatever happened, it will be covered up by Goodell.

 

[C00kie M0nster]

Matt Leinart:

Every team tampers with the footballs. Ask any Qb In the league, this is ridiculous!!

 

[cwmartin]

The deflated balls would have given both sides an advantage.

This isn't true.

How could it give Luck an advantage to throwing the ball if only the Patriots balls were deflated?

 

[msdstc]

I'm guessing that means that the patriots changed it after it was inspected.

No it means the refs didn't properly check the balls, pats won't be punished

 

[TheDrizzlerJ11]

Dude. If the balls were 2 lbs lower than expected, and the refs caught that they would tell the pats to go back and inflate them properly and no one would bat an eye.

Assuming officials did their job, the balls were good to go and legal 15 minutes prior to kick off. I am just struggling to find out HOW THE HELL ITS POSSIBLE to secretly deflate footballs after that last weigh in without there being some kind of video evidence from the 40+ cameras in that stadium. Not counting the sports photographers and everyone int he stands.

But if there's footage of it the league would burn it before anyone finds out.

And it's not hard to discretely deflate a ball.

 

[cdyhybrid]

get ready to formulate that nice conspiracy theory now. The tinfoil hat is over there >>>

Why form a conspiracy theory when we have clear evidence and a history right in front of us?

 

[FaintColt388301]

Dude. If the balls were 2 lbs lower than expected, and the refs caught that they would tell the pats to go back and inflate them properly and no one would bat an eye.

Assuming officials did their job, the balls were good to go and legal 15 minutes prior to kick off. I am just struggling to find out HOW THE HELL ITS POSSIBLE to secretly deflate footballs after that last weigh in without there being some kind of video evidence from the 40+ cameras in that stadium. Not counting the sports photographers and everyone int he stands.

Where are you getting 15 minutes from? They had 2 hours with the balls

 

[cwmartin]

Matt Leinart:

Someone giving Matt Leinart a platform to speak is more ridiculous.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Let's be honest here.

The deflated balls would have given both sides an advantage.

Let's be honest here...you haven't read any of this thread, have you?

 

[EASTC0AST_GH05T]

Why form a conspiracy theory when we have clear evidence and a history right in front of us?

what clear evidence do you have that the pats purposely deflated the balls? didn't you make a point about leaving history as history and focusing on the now when we mentioned what brad johnson said about the 2003 bucs?

 

[NH Apache]

Why form a conspiracy theory when we have clear evidence and a history right in front of us?

We have no evidence. Just a mort report.

 

[TheDrizzlerJ11]

Matt Leinart:

That's college though. We need an NFL QBs perspective.

 

[Jag]

Cold balls shrink. I thought everyone knew this.

 

[entremet]

That's college though. We need an NFL QBs perspective.

lol.

 

[Mully]

This isn't true.

How could it give Luck an advantage to throwing the ball if only the Patriots balls were deflated?

How much of a disadvantage? Luck didn't have a bad game because of a bad ball.

The Pats should 100% be punished for not following league rules, but it's stupid to think that Luck's mistakes could have been rectified by an added ounce in a ball.

 

[Chezzymann]

Cold balls shrink. I thought everyone knew this.

Y'kno this could actually be the cause

 

[C00kie M0nster]

That's college though. We need an NFL QBs perspective.

Touche.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Disappointed I haven't seen a shop of die fledermaus from the tick yet.

 

[Subitai]

I agree with Cowherd's additional punishment recommendation of 2 years mandatory Hard Knocks.

Edit: The balls didn't determine the outcome of the game vs the Colts, but I agree there might something there for those now wondering about the Ravens game outcome.

 

[goldenticket]

The deflated balls would have given both sides an advantage. Maybe the Pats' players knew about the deflated balls, but still I doubt that such an advantage would have given them much of an upside.

Each team has its own batch of balls. What started this entire thing was colts intercepted Brady and after the play the colts player noticed the patriots ball was different.

 

[bob_arctor]

That's college though. We need an NFL QBs perspective.

Heh heh

 

[cwmartin]

How much of a disadvantage? Luck didn't have a bad game because of a bad ball.

The Pats should 100% be punished for not following league rules, but it's stupid to think that Luck's mistakes could have been rectified by an added ounce in a ball.

I'm not even remotely trying to comment on either players ability. Just stating that what you said was not correct.

 

[Sanjuro]

How much of a disadvantage? Luck didn't have a bad game because of a bad ball.

The Pats should 100% be punished for not following league rules, but it's stupid to think that Luck's mistakes could have been rectified by an added ounce in a ball.

It hasn't been proven that the Patriots have violated league rules...yet.

 

[Tawpgun]

Where are you getting 15 minutes from? They had 2 hours with the balls

@SportsCenter: UPDATE: League sources confirm footballs were properly inspected & approved by ref 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. (via @mortreport)

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

How do we know the weather didn't cause changes in the footballs?

 

[tfur]

Matt Leinart:

Matt Leinart from USC? The college that was given the death penalty for violations? Naturally he would think cheating is fine.

 

[MacAttack]

 

[Chezzymann]

How do we know the weather didn't cause changes in the footballs?

We don't. We just know they were deflated and everyones saying the patriots cheated.

 

[EASTC0AST_GH05T]

The Hoody with the cut off sleeves and all lol.

 

[TheDrizzlerJ11]

@SportsCenter: UPDATE: League sources confirm footballs were properly inspected & approved by ref 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. (via @mortreport)

You're completely delusional and are only reading the bolder aren't you?

 

[cdyhybrid]

what clear evidence do you have that the pats purposely deflated the balls? didn't you make a point about leaving history as history and focusing on the now when we mentioned what brad johnson said about the 2003 bucs?

The point was that Brad Johnson wasn't caught during the game. The Pats were. No one had any idea Brad Johnson did that until 13 years later. The Pats got caught 4 days ago, during the actual game.

We don't know for sure if they did it on purpose yet, but this is a team with a history of trying to break the rules, so I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

We have no evidence. Just a mort report.

You're right, ESPN is just out to get the Pats.

 

[YuriLowell]

How do we know the weather didn't cause changes in the footballs?

It was 50 degrees outside.

 

[Dragon]

Matt Leinart from USC? The college that was given the death penalty for violations? Naturally he would think cheating is fine.

tfur from NeoGAF? Naturally he would think commenting with little evidence is fine.

Spoiler

I don't even think Leinart's point is valid but c'mon, he certainly knows more about how the NFL prepares footballs before the game than you do, discounting him just on that seems very NeoGAFian.

 

[Trey]

How do we know the weather didn't cause changes in the footballs?

The temperature wouldn't take two pounds of pressure out of the ball.

 

[teruterubozu]

How do we know the weather didn't cause changes in the footballs?

It was mild that day. About 45-50 degrees - quite unusual for this time of year. Not sure how rain would affect pressure though.

 

[FaintColt388301]

@SportsCenter: UPDATE: League sources confirm footballs were properly inspected & approved by ref 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. (via @mortreport)

Hahahaha. What? Thank you for proving my point. That's not just 15 minutes with the ball. I guess Pats fans take two out of everything

 

[EASTC0AST_GH05T]

The point was that Brad Johnson wasn't caught during the game. The Pats were. No one had any idea Brad Johnson did that until 13 years later. The Pats got caught 4 days ago, during the actual game.

We don't know for sure if they did it on purpose yet, but this is a team with a history of trying to break the rules, so I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt.



You're right, ESPN is just out to get the Pats.

so you don't want to give the pats the benefit of the doubt but want to put all your eggs in ESPNs basket. Mortensen of all people he has been wrong on so many reports but if that's what you want to ride on good luck lol. ESPN is doing there jobs, you are out to get the pats.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

did Matt Leinart give that quote direct from a hot tub?

 

[ThatCrazyGuy]

Matt Leinart knows more about the NFL than all of you guys, lol.

That said. I still want to know.

Did they test the Colts balls for a control.

Do teams use the same balls game after game? Where those 12 balls the same as the ones from the Ravens game, or from the end of the season?

Maybe they gradually deflate like my tires over time? idk, haha.

Again, why only 11 of 12? lol.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Cold balls shrink. I thought everyone knew this.

Y'kno this could actually be the cause

How do we know the weather didn't cause changes in the footballs?

I can't tell if you guys are serious, or just apologists?

We know because only half the footballs in use were deflated. They just so happened to be the ones under the Patriot's positive control. And they just so happened to all be deflated by precisely 2 PSI.

"Mysteriously," the 12 footballs the Colts were in charge of safeguarding remained within normal guidelines.

 

[Officerrob]

How do we know the weather didn't cause changes in the footballs?

Because the balls the Colts had were inspected and still within regulation

 

[cdyhybrid]

so you don't want to give the pats the benefit of the doubt but want to pull all your eggs in ESPNs basket. Mortensen of all people he has been wrong on so many reports but if that's what you want to ride on good luck lol. ESPN is doing there jobs, you are out to get the pats.

Why would I trust the Pats over someone who's putting his name on a report and thus vouching for its legitimacy?

It's not like ESPN has anything against the Pats, it's probably the opposite. ESPN is in bed with the NFL (see their handling of Bill Simmons' criticism of Goodell over the Ray Rice thing), it would be in their best interest for this story to go away instead of fabricating something.

 

[W1SSY]

The weather argument is ridiculous because the Colts played in the same conditions and if both teams had under inflated balls then you could say the weather was the issue. As far as I know only the Pats are being looked at for the under inflated balls. Pretty sure I read that Luck prefers balls inflated towards the minimum allowed so I would assume the balls are going to react the same way for both teams. In the grand scheme of things Pats probably get fined 25k and take another hit to the reputation for being known as cheaters which most people already associate them with.

For the people making the statement that the Colts got blown out and it would not matter , you are correct. The issue still stands that the Patriots might have played with under inflated balls and because of this they deserve to be penalized. Hell, if they lost the game I would say the same thing. If the league determines that they broke the rules they need to be punished for it.

 

[teruterubozu]

Maybe Brady's ice cold.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Was it confirmed they were all deflated by 2 pounds? Just want to know what's truth and what's rumor.

Also, if the balls were deflated 15 minute before the game how and who was doing this? The ball boys?

 

[TheDrizzlerJ11]

Again, why only 11 of 12? lol.

In case Brady got hurt. Garoppolo likes it fully inflated.

 

[Tom Penny]

People who claim the balls didn't alter the game are wrong. The Pats would have won 56-0.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Was it confirmed they were all deflated by 2 pounds? Just want to know what's truth and what's rumor.

Also, if the balls were deflated 15 minute before the game how and who was doing this? The ball boys?

11 out of 12.

Also it's not 15 minutes. The refs inspect them TWO HOURS and fifteen minutes before the game.