Daren King wrote:
At this stage I don't believe you can conclude there was any cheating.    First you must prove that someone from the Patriots was responsible and then that it was knowingly and intentionally done.
Also, ESPN reported that no balls from the Colts were tested.
The night of the game it was dark, cold and wet.  All of these factors contribute to air pressure.

you forgot that guy at the grassy knoll. lol

this is not going away...and Uncle Goodell, who makes bad rulings will continue that trend and only take away future drafts.

Daren King wrote:
At this stage I don't believe you can conclude there was any cheating.    First you must prove that someone from the Patriots was responsible and then that it was knowingly and intentionally done.
Also, ESPN reported that no balls from the Colts were tested.
The night of the game it was dark, cold and wet.  All of these factors contribute to air pressure.

the whole reason this was brought up was d'qwell jackson felt the ball he intercepted was under inflated. otherwise, nobody would have noticed from the colts side of the ball. he brought it up, the coaching staff reported it to walt anderson, and he did the rest.

11 of 12 game balls under inflated. and by enough to raise more than eyebrows. get over it, they cheated. the only thing left is to determine the punishment. it won't matter in the sb (and it shouldn't). i want the seahawks to trounce them with no excuses.

considering their penchant for cheating, the patsies need to be hit hard. and i mean hard enough to where their shenanigans get curtailed...for good. belichick needs to go sit in a cave for a year. and he can take brady with him.

GK photo wrote:
the whole reason this was brought up was d'qwell jackson felt the ball he intercepted was under inflated. otherwise, nobody would have noticed from the colts side of the ball. he brought it up, the coaching staff reported it to walt, and he did the rest.

11 of 12 game balls under inflated. and by enough to raise more than eyebrows. get over it, they cheated. the only thing left is to determine the punishment. it won't matter in the sb (and it shouldn't). i want the seahawks to trounce them with no excuses.

considering their penchant for cheating, the patsies need to be hit hard. and i mean hard enough to where their shenanigans get curtailed...for good. belichick needs to go sit in a cave for a year. and he can take brady with him.

it's comical that their natural line of defense will be to toss walt coleman under the bus. the irony would be rabelaisian.

and why 11 of 12... gotta have a kick ball at normal pressure or it won't kick right/be flat for FG

NFL will give them a slap on the wrist and send the message that cheating is okay, as long as you win.

DougBPhoto wrote:
NFL will give them a slap on the wrist and send the message that cheating is okay, as long as you win.

i don't think so. nothing will be done until after the super bowl, but expect some serious punishment. they already hit them with draft picks and major fines, after spy-gate, but this could be even harder this time. vavoom could be sitting home next year, watching from his living room...he should be.

Kev Lawson wrote:
Personally I would like to see them DQ'ed if found to be guilty and take the win away. Yep, let the Colts go to the bowl.

That will never happen... probably just a fine and lose some picks.

Way to send a message Goodell. Yet another fail.

that's why i'm saying, he (vavoom) will probably be sat down for a year. if not, payton will be banging on goodell's door, looking to throw down.

fool me once...fool me twice...but, fool me thrice???

GK photo wrote:
i don't think so. nothing will be done until after the super bowl, but expect some serious punishment. they already hit them with draft picks and major fines, after spy-gate, but this could be even harder this time. vavoom could be sitting home next year, watching from his living room...he should be.

as Kev said, they should be DQed.

Yeah, bummer that it is inconveniently right before the Superbowl, but they CHEATED to win the game to get into the Superbowl, they should not retain the right to play in it, and even possibly win it.

Who cares about next season, if it gets them the wins now, and those types of "punishment" are too little, too late.

Love the sport, just a shame that the idiots running it should be fired.

GK photo wrote:
the whole reason this was brought up was d'qwell jackson felt the ball he intercepted was under inflated. otherwise, nobody would have noticed from the colts side of the ball. he brought it up, the coaching staff reported it to walt anderson, and he did the rest.

** correction : media outlets are reporting that Jackson, off the record, is saying he never reported the balls

GK photo wrote:
the whole reason this was brought up was d'qwell jackson felt the ball he intercepted was under inflated. otherwise, nobody would have noticed from the colts side of the ball. he brought it up, the coaching staff reported it to walt anderson, and he did the rest.

Daren King wrote:
** correction : media outlets are reporting that Jackson, off the record, is saying he never reported the balls

well, then, we'll just wait and see. someone reported it. i could see him saying that, now. but that's just me. i hardly think the nfl wanted this mess, right before the 'big game'.

vavoom was probably too busy getting his 'ineligible' and 'eligible' linemen/receivers packages in order to keep an eye on the ball boy. man, if they have film of the ball boy deflating balls, that would be priceless.

GK photo wrote:
vavoom was probably too busy getting his 'ineligible' and 'eligible' linemen/receivers packages in order to keep an eye on the ball boy. man, if they have film of the ball boy deflating balls, that would be priceless.

I think it was some guy in a hoodie

Robb Mann wrote:
Now let's stop this pointless thread before we make Tom Brady cry.

Farenell Photography wrote:
Considering how bad Andrew Luck & the entire Colts team played that day, the can use all the excuses they can get.

Notre Dame could have beat the Colts...

Robb Mann wrote:
Now let's stop this pointless thread before we make Tom Brady cry.

it all makes sense now. all that whining and boohooing is probably attributable to how his balls are under inflated.

Jay  Edwards wrote:
I had always assumed the footballs were regulated by -- and under the control of -- the refs.  My bad.  Perhaps they will make a few changes in this area now.  Why aren't the footballs inspected during the game?

I am curious as to why none of the Colts footballs were inspected after the game.  Seems like a thorough investigation would involve checking all of the footballs available for play that day.

If found guilty, the Patriots should be barred from the playoffs next year.  Meaningful punishment goes a long way towards modifying bad behavior.

two cents

Yes. As is usually the case in life, it's a problem of insufficient new regulation and enforcing of existing regulation.

NothingIsRealButTheGirl wrote:
Yes. As is usually the case in life, it's a problem of insufficient new regulation and enforcing of existing regulation.

It never ceases to amuse me that people think "new regulation" is the answer in the face of "failure to enforce existing regulation."

Caradoc wrote:
It never ceases to amuse me that people think "new regulation" is the answer in the face of "failure to enforce existing regulation."

Oh, I was just agreeing with Jay.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
We might as easily claim the Seahawks are cheating by causing a distracting controversy in advance of the Super Bowl.

You may be on to something there!

Looknsee Photography wrote:
"Cheat"?  That's premature, I think.  Some thoughts...

I'ts not premature. It's pretty much established fact at this point. The NFL has even acknowledged this.

...  Has it been proved that someone employed by the Patriots is responsible for deflating these balls?

Yes

On purpose?  Because they believed that the deflated balls gave the Patriots a needed advantage?

Yes. Tom Brady has stated in the past that if given the choice, he prefers the balls to be under inflated. That gives them motive.

...  What is the effect of measuring the balls in the warm locker room and then taking the balls out in
     the 20 degree weather?

You're making an assumption that the balls were inflated in the locker room and not on the field.

...  At least 2 officials handled every ball after each play.  Why didn't they accept the balls each time?

It's entirely possible they didn't notice. Officials have a million things they are dealing with on the field and the thought as to whether or not the balls were properly inflated probably didn't occur to them. That's what makes cheating on this level work so well. It probably happens often and is frequently not caught. This time it was.

...  How do the Patriot game balls compare to the Colt game balls?

The Cots' balls were all inflated within regulation standards.

...  Who here thinks this made any bit of difference in the final score?

In this particular case, probably not a huge amount. The game was a massacre from the start. That truly is not the point though. Let's say the game ended Patriots 21, Colts 17. It would be very easy to say that the under inflated balls gave the Pats a powerful advantage during their offence and yet the penalty for cheating would have been the same as it is now.

...  Why are the teams, and not the league, responsible for game balls?

An excellent question. My bet is that when you have an official handle the balls, you are leaving big decisions up to just a small amount of people who can be bought and sway the game (ala Soccer, which is rife with cheating and bribed officials). When you make the teams responsible, then they can be penalized. The problem is, the penalty is usually just a slap on the wrist, as is happening right now with the Pats.

Jay2G Photography wrote:
They say it was discovered in the 2nd quarter.  Looks like it helped a lot outscoring the colts 30-0.  I don't condone cheating, but if you think this is the only time this has happened throughout the history of the NFL your crazy or just hate the Patriots. Shit like this happens all the time. Coaches stretch the rules as far as they can as do players. Scuffing balls etc.  They would have beat the Colts if they were throwing a bowling ball around.

If it was discovered in the second quarter, why wasn't it called then?  The officials handle the ball at the end of every play, so if no official noticed anything or called anything during the game, to my it's a non issue.  A lot of controversy over nothing.

...and I'm not a Patriots fan and I don't give a shit who wins the Super Bowl

ernst tischler wrote:
If it was discovered in the second quarter, why wasn't it called then?  The officials handle the ball at the end of every play, so if no official noticed anything or called anything during the game, to my it's a non issue.  A lot of controversy over nothing.

...and I'm not a Patriots fan and I don't give a shit who wins the Super Bowl

The ball was removed from play for inspection.

...and Yes, Officials handle the ball before each play begins, every time - no Team Player gets to spot the ball.

It's My understanding that the Home Team supplies Footballs for the Game which are given to the Officials for inspection.

Any ball inflated at 75 degrees (indoors) is going to deflate slightly outdoors in colder temps, it's the law of Physics.

Fifty One Imaging wrote:
It's My understanding that the Home Team supplies Footballs for the Game which are given to the Officials for inspection.

Nope.

Each team brings 12 balls to the game and they get to use their own balls while on offense.

JJMiller wrote:
First of all, what kind of idiot policy is it that teams bring their own balls? The NFL should be supplying official ones.

Secondly, the idea that the balls were inflated at room temp. and then placed outside, reducing their internal pressure because of the cold, is completely sound. If the Pats inflated the ball to the minimum required at room temp, and they got mushy later in the cold, well, good for them for using their heads.

I don't care who supplies the footballs or where they were inflated.

The officials of the game are responsible for the fair play of the game, if they failed to check or noticed an improperly inflated ball during the play of the game and as a result failed to call it during the game...then there is nothing to cry about now.

The Colts got their asses handed to them, end of story.

ernst tischler wrote:

I don't care who supplies the footballs or where they were inflated.

The officials of the game are responsible for the fair play of the game, if they failed to check or noticed an improperly inflated ball during the play of the game and as a result failed to call it during the game...then there is nothing to cry about now.

The Colts got their asses handed to them, end of story.

Indeed. Don't the officials handle the footballs throughout the game?  Interesting they didn't notice anything--or at least say anything...  The plot thickens!