Deflate-gate? Report: Patriots being investigated for using deflated footballs

[HUGGY]

Very interesting article

"For whatever reason, the Patriots do have exceptional ball security, especially for an outdoors team. And I mean exceptional..NE's ball security was an outlier to the tune of several standard deviations. The charts are convincing, and the implication is that NE benefitted from under-inflated balls is unmistakable. "

The Patriots Have Incredible Ball Security - Advanced Football Analytics

WOW! The second chart is EXTREMELY damning to the Patriots.

 

[ChrisL]

Face facts, baby, your team lost. The Patriots beat them fair and square. You can see by watching the game highlights. And explain those interceptions. You cannot. Your stupid deflated balls theory does not add up.

Watch all the Patriots highlights from the win over the Ravens

the Colts are not my team. And I gotja, win at all cost.

I was referring to the Ravens.

neither are the Ravens.

Well, you sure seem awfully pouty about them losing.

I am not pouty about them losing, if I were pouty and not just discussing cheating, it would be over the Pats continuing bending and breaking of the rules.

You all are blowing this out of proportion. At most the footballs were deflated by 1.5 to 2 PSI, which is not much at all. The science teacher on the link I quoted said that weather and/or use CAN cause a football to lose that much air pressure, and it would not be enough of an amount to be noticeable. You would still not be able to squish the ball in your hand, so exactly WHAT benefit do you think they would get from that?

 

[ChrisL]

I should apologize for being such a *****, but you must understand that the Patriots are my team, and I am a loyal fan and will defend them viciously until the end.

 

[mack20]

Very interesting article

"For whatever reason, the Patriots do have exceptional ball security, especially for an outdoors team. And I mean exceptional..NE's ball security was an outlier to the tune of several standard deviations. The charts are convincing, and the implication is that NE benefitted from under-inflated balls is unmistakable. "

The Patriots Have Incredible Ball Security - Advanced Football Analytics

WOW! The second chart is EXTREMELY damning to the Patriots.

By the way, that dive also roughly coincides with BJGE being their primary back. Not to mention how much fuss has been made over the years about how quick Belichick is to bench any RB on his team who does fumble.

 

[ChrisL]

This "scandal" is just as stupid as idiotic spy gate. Are you aware that you can take still PICTURES of the opposing teams during their practices, etc., but NOT videos?

 

[ChrisL]

Very interesting article

"For whatever reason, the Patriots do have exceptional ball security, especially for an outdoors team. And I mean exceptional..NE's ball security was an outlier to the tune of several standard deviations. The charts are convincing, and the implication is that NE benefitted from under-inflated balls is unmistakable. "

The Patriots Have Incredible Ball Security - Advanced Football Analytics

WOW! The second chart is EXTREMELY damning to the Patriots.

By the way, that dive also roughly coincides with BJGE being their primary back. Not to mention how much fuss has been made over the years about how quick Belichick is to bench any RB on his team who does fumble.

That is incredibly idiotic. OF course they bench players who fumble. DUH!

 

[ChrisL]

Very interesting article

"For whatever reason, the Patriots do have exceptional ball security, especially for an outdoors team. And I mean exceptional..NE's ball security was an outlier to the tune of several standard deviations. The charts are convincing, and the implication is that NE benefitted from under-inflated balls is unmistakable. "

The Patriots Have Incredible Ball Security - Advanced Football Analytics

WOW! The second chart is EXTREMELY damning to the Patriots.

By the way, that dive also roughly coincides with BJGE being their primary back. Not to mention how much fuss has been made over the years about how quick Belichick is to bench any RB on his team who does fumble.

They aren't the Cowboys, you know.

 

[Oldstyle]

To people like Huggy and Alex...physics IS a conspiracy!

Why include me in this? I just want a good Super Bowl. Seattle is not responsible for this situation in any way what so ever.

I am satisfied that the Patriots will be under so much scrutiny up to and including the game that to a Seahawks players, coaches or us fans it's a non issue.

As for physics?? Why cool the balls to 32 degrees? It was raining in New England during their game with the Colts. SOOoo... OBVIOUSLY the temperature was above freezing. The reported game time temp in Foxburough/Gillette stadium was in the low 50's.

According to Yesterday s and last weeks weather in Boston Massachusetts U.S.A. the temperature at game time was 46 degrees. Re-running the calculation gives a game time ball inflation pressure of 11.8 lbs. Still out of specs.

The point is, that having a +/- .5 psi NFL specified pressure range, where typical environmental conditions can easily exceed that range by five times the rule, is stupid.

Of course, no one in the NFL ever took Physics 101 in college either. Jocks usually major in some weird liberal arts subject. So the omission is understandable.

.

Oh, so those laws of physics only apply to the Pats balls, all of which were deflated. NOT ONE of the Colts balls were. That was 12 total. That is what is being reported.

Perhaps the laws of physics ceased to exist on the Colts balls. Perhaps the Colts had magic balls.

Well, that would have to be the explanation.

.

The laws of physics apply equally to everyone.

Infer as you wish from there.

I fail to understand what makes you assume a given starting temperature. Why do you assume that the balls weren't inflated and checked outdoors, or in an area so ventilated as to be of comparable temperature to the outdoor temperature?

You think the officials sit in a freezing cold room to replicate the game time temperature when they check the balls? Or take them all out to the fifty yard line in a driving rain storm to do that job? That's some amusing stuff, Swim!

 

[Oldstyle]

I have stated I believe they cheated, however proving it is another story.

I think you are suffering from the impossible burden bias. You seem to be looking for such a burden of proof as to preempt and rule out every fanciful hypothetical that might be imagined. Your line of reasoning could continue to extend further. Maybe the used the same gauge both times, but maybe it became damaged during the first half. Maybe it was originally malfunctioning and after being dropped it started operating properly again. Maybe it remains damaged and is operating correctly at random moments.

The Colts reported suspicions of the Pats using deflated balls in November. The Ravens raised similar concerns after the divisional round. And when officials tested these suspicions, lo and behold! The Patriots were caught red handed with deflated balls.

It's proven already. The Patriots have been using deflated balls. I'm sure the league wants to continue digging deeper to get more information and gain a better picture of who said what and when. But it's been proven that the Patriots were using deflated balls. Empirically proven, without any doubt whatsoever. And there is enough evidence to satisfy a court of law that this is not the first time the Patriots have done so.

Dude it you went into a court of law with the "evidence" that you've provided here the judge would not only laugh you out of the courtroom...they would probably call to see if you actually passed the bar and were licensed to practice law in the first place!

 

[Oldstyle]

At this point the judge would look at you sternly and say "Mr. Swim...my patience is wearing thin...do you have any evidence that Tom Brady or Bill Belichick altered those balls prior to the game being played? If so please produce it. I'm tired of these unsubstantiated allegations."

 

[Theowl32]

I wonder if anyone knows the first time this was brought to attention of the NFL was after the first Colts Pats game this year. Brady threw two ints and the equipment manager had access to both of those balls. He saw the balls were under pressure and it was significant.

Hence, the reasons why the refs checked the ball pressure are half time of the championship game. The first game was in a dome and the weather was not a factor.

Those of you bringing up that the Pats won the game continue to use a fallacy. That is totally irrelevant. No one mentions who won a game if a baseball player is caught corking their bat or if a pitcher doctors the baseball. It is not part of the conversation. It is all about the fact that they were caught altering the official ball, outside of regulations which is in essence......CHEATING.

Sorry, this is not a gray area. This is black and white. Cheating is cheating. I know it is hard to hear for the Pats fans, but that is what it is. Now, spare us with the temperature, or there is no proof they did anything (11 balls were way under and that is not a debate and all of the balls altered were only Pats balls). There is proof someone did something,just we do not know who. Belichick and Brady know this, and have been told this. They will deny deny deny.

They will get away with it as a result. However, the sporting world will know. They will have the reputation they deserve.

Sorry.

 

[mack20]

I wonder if anyone knows the first time this was brought to attention of the NFL was after the first Colts Pats game this year. Brady threw two ints and the equipment manager had access to both of those balls. He saw the balls were under pressure and it was significant.

Hence, the reasons why the refs checked the ball pressure are half time of the championship game. The first game was in a dome and the weather was not a factor.

Those of you bringing up that the Pats won the game continue to use a fallacy. That is totally irrelevant. No one mentions who won a game if a baseball player is caught corking their bat or if a pitcher doctors the baseball. It is not part of the conversation. It is all about the fact that they were caught altering the official ball, outside of regulations which is in essence......CHEATING.

Sorry, this is not a gray area. This is black and white. Cheating is cheating. I know it is hard to hear for the Pats fans, but that is what it is. Now, spare us with the temperature, or there is no proof they did anything (11 balls were way under and that is not a debate and all of the balls altered were only Pats balls). There is proof someone did something,just we do not know who. Belichick and Brady know this, and have been told this. They will deny deny deny.

They will get away with it as a result. However, the sporting world will know. They will have the reputation they deserve.

Sorry.

Must feel pretty impressive to be judge, jury, and executioner.

 

[Theowl32]

I wonder if anyone knows the first time this was brought to attention of the NFL was after the first Colts Pats game this year. Brady threw two ints and the equipment manager had access to both of those balls. He saw the balls were under pressure and it was significant.

Hence, the reasons why the refs checked the ball pressure are half time of the championship game. The first game was in a dome and the weather was not a factor.

Those of you bringing up that the Pats won the game continue to use a fallacy. That is totally irrelevant. No one mentions who won a game if a baseball player is caught corking their bat or if a pitcher doctors the baseball. It is not part of the conversation. It is all about the fact that they were caught altering the official ball, outside of regulations which is in essence......CHEATING.

Sorry, this is not a gray area. This is black and white. Cheating is cheating. I know it is hard to hear for the Pats fans, but that is what it is. Now, spare us with the temperature, or there is no proof they did anything (11 balls were way under and that is not a debate and all of the balls altered were only Pats balls). There is proof someone did something,just we do not know who. Belichick and Brady know this, and have been told this. They will deny deny deny.

They will get away with it as a result. However, the sporting world will know. They will have the reputation they deserve.

Sorry.

Must feel pretty impressive to be judge, jury, and executioner.

Whatever you call it.

 

[Oldstyle]

I wonder if anyone knows the first time this was brought to attention of the NFL was after the first Colts Pats game this year. Brady threw two ints and the equipment manager had access to both of those balls. He saw the balls were under pressure and it was significant.

Hence, the reasons why the refs checked the ball pressure are half time of the championship game. The first game was in a dome and the weather was not a factor.

Those of you bringing up that the Pats won the game continue to use a fallacy. That is totally irrelevant. No one mentions who won a game if a baseball player is caught corking their bat or if a pitcher doctors the baseball. It is not part of the conversation. It is all about the fact that they were caught altering the official ball, outside of regulations which is in essence......CHEATING.

Sorry, this is not a gray area. This is black and white. Cheating is cheating. I know it is hard to hear for the Pats fans, but that is what it is. Now, spare us with the temperature, or there is no proof they did anything (11 balls were way under and that is not a debate and all of the balls altered were only Pats balls). There is proof someone did something,just we do not know who. Belichick and Brady know this, and have been told this. They will deny deny deny.

They will get away with it as a result. However, the sporting world will know. They will have the reputation they deserve.

Sorry.

So let me see if I'm following your non "gray area" here, Owl...

Supposedly the Colts brought to the attention of the NFL that the Patriots were cheating by using underinflated balls...yet the officials waited until halftime to check the balls that the Patriots were using? Why would they do that? That makes absolutely ZERO sense! If a team went to the NFL with this it's inconceivable that the NFL would do nothing about it until the second half of a playoff game. I keep hearing all these claims that someone went to the NFL about this earlier and yet it's NEVER substantiated!

The same is with the story that the officials investigated because the Colts defensive back who intercepted Brady thought the ball was soft. That player has subsequently come out and said he did not make any such claim. So who's making up all of these claims from "un-named sources"? Is the media in such a lather to "break" this story that they're running with a guy who heard a guy who heard it from another guy as their "proof"? If so that's pretty pathetic.

This whole "scandal" is a joke! The Patriots supposedly have this huge advantage of playing with a softer ball in the first half but the score is 17 to 7 at the end of the second quarter and it's still anyone's game! So the officials test the Patriot's balls...find them too soft...inflate them and then the Patriots proceed to steamroll the Colts 28 to 0 in the second half! So where was the huge advantage? Was Tom Brady suddenly unable to throw balls to his receivers? Were they suddenly unable to catch them? DID YOU MORONS EVEN WATCH THAT GAME? I mean seriously...what the hell is this all about? Do you hate the Patriots that much that you're seriously calling for Tom Brady to be suspended from the Super Bowl? Are you really that far around the bend on this?

 

[ChrisL]

I wonder if anyone knows the first time this was brought to attention of the NFL was after the first Colts Pats game this year. Brady threw two ints and the equipment manager had access to both of those balls. He saw the balls were under pressure and it was significant.

Hence, the reasons why the refs checked the ball pressure are half time of the championship game. The first game was in a dome and the weather was not a factor.

Those of you bringing up that the Pats won the game continue to use a fallacy. That is totally irrelevant. No one mentions who won a game if a baseball player is caught corking their bat or if a pitcher doctors the baseball. It is not part of the conversation. It is all about the fact that they were caught altering the official ball, outside of regulations which is in essence......CHEATING.

Sorry, this is not a gray area. This is black and white. Cheating is cheating. I know it is hard to hear for the Pats fans, but that is what it is. Now, spare us with the temperature, or there is no proof they did anything (11 balls were way under and that is not a debate and all of the balls altered were only Pats balls). There is proof someone did something,just we do not know who. Belichick and Brady know this, and have been told this. They will deny deny deny.

They will get away with it as a result. However, the sporting world will know. They will have the reputation they deserve.

Sorry.

Must feel pretty impressive to be judge, jury, and executioner.

Bunch of self-righteous little crap tards.

 

[ChrisL]

This stuff has been going on forever in the NFL apparently. The only reason why it's being blown all out of proportion is because it's the well hated Patriots. Maybe they should come up with some new rules regarding the handling of the balls, but THIS is not why the Pats win games, that's for sure.

Deflate-gate A look at NFL cheating and gamesmanship through the years - CBS News

 

[BluePhantom]

Very interesting article

"For whatever reason, the Patriots do have exceptional ball security, especially for an outdoors team. And I mean exceptional..NE's ball security was an outlier to the tune of several standard deviations. The charts are convincing, and the implication is that NE benefitted from under-inflated balls is unmistakable. "

The Patriots Have Incredible Ball Security - Advanced Football Analytics

I wonder if the spike in 2013 is when they first got rid of Blont.

According to the article the 2013 numbers were because of a freak game in Denver where it was ridiculously icy and snowy and they fumbled like 6 times. Without that game there would not be that 2013 peak

 

[HUGGY]

This stuff has been going on forever in the NFL apparently. The only reason why it's being blown all out of proportion is because it's the well hated Patriots. Maybe they should come up with some new rules regarding the handling of the balls, but THIS is not why the Pats win games, that's for sure.

Deflate-gate A look at NFL cheating and gamesmanship through the years - CBS News

Every team that has lost a close game to the Patriots in rainy or cold weather in the last ten years has a legitimate concern if the Pats were cheating enough to give them a winning advantage.

That's a lot of teams and a hell of a lot of fans.

A fan that invests thousands of dollars every season in their team should have the right to expect a level playing field.

If Brady is ordering and getting doctored footballs that give him an unfair advantage there MUST be consequences for breaking the rules.

 

[Theowl32]

I wonder if anyone knows the first time this was brought to attention of the NFL was after the first Colts Pats game this year. Brady threw two ints and the equipment manager had access to both of those balls. He saw the balls were under pressure and it was significant.

Hence, the reasons why the refs checked the ball pressure are half time of the championship game. The first game was in a dome and the weather was not a factor.

Those of you bringing up that the Pats won the game continue to use a fallacy. That is totally irrelevant. No one mentions who won a game if a baseball player is caught corking their bat or if a pitcher doctors the baseball. It is not part of the conversation. It is all about the fact that they were caught altering the official ball, outside of regulations which is in essence......CHEATING.

Sorry, this is not a gray area. This is black and white. Cheating is cheating. I know it is hard to hear for the Pats fans, but that is what it is. Now, spare us with the temperature, or there is no proof they did anything (11 balls were way under and that is not a debate and all of the balls altered were only Pats balls). There is proof someone did something,just we do not know who. Belichick and Brady know this, and have been told this. They will deny deny deny.

They will get away with it as a result. However, the sporting world will know. They will have the reputation they deserve.

Sorry.

So let me see if I'm following your non "gray area" here, Owl...

Supposedly the Colts brought to the attention of the NFL that the Patriots were cheating by using underinflated balls...yet the officials waited until halftime to check the balls that the Patriots were using? Why would they do that? That makes absolutely ZERO sense! If a team went to the NFL with this it's inconceivable that the NFL would do nothing about it until the second half of a playoff game. I keep hearing all these claims that someone went to the NFL about this earlier and yet it's NEVER substantiated!

The same is with the story that the officials investigated because the Colts defensive back who intercepted Brady thought the ball was soft. That player has subsequently come out and said he did not make any such claim. So who's making up all of these claims from "un-named sources"? Is the media in such a lather to "break" this story that they're running with a guy who heard a guy who heard it from another guy as their "proof"? If so that's pretty pathetic.

This whole "scandal" is a joke! The Patriots supposedly have this huge advantage of playing with a softer ball in the first half but the score is 17 to 7 at the end of the second quarter and it's still anyone's game! So the officials test the Patriot's balls...find them too soft...inflate them and then the Patriots proceed to steamroll the Colts 28 to 0 in the second half! So where was the huge advantage? Was Tom Brady suddenly unable to throw balls to his receivers? Were they suddenly unable to catch them? DID YOU MORONS EVEN WATCH THAT GAME? I mean seriously...what the hell is this all about? Do you hate the Patriots that much that you're seriously calling for Tom Brady to be suspended from the Super Bowl? Are you really that far around the bend on this?

Then let us not have rules at all! Let baseball players cork bats! Let the pitchers put snot or vaseline or ball sweat on the balls they pitch! Let golfers alter their clubs and allow them to bring in whatever ******* ball they want!

No, there were rules, the Pats broke the rules. 11 balls were significantly deflated. All of them were Pats balls.

Yeah, the poor Pats are so ******* picked on by everyone. They were actually caught ILLEGALLY VIDEO TAPING. No, they were not allowed to do it. They were fined and draft picks were taken. I know to tuck rule Pats fans the NFL is just so jealous and they just target the poor Pats, who have not won it all since 2004.

I wonder what the Saints fans think. Their coach was suspended for a year for something every team does.

The poor Pats. I think we should let the Pats do whatever they want.

 

[Papageorgio]

the hilarious thing is that considering their performance in the second half obviously they didn't need to cheat. Maybe it was just like a baby pacifier and now that they don't need to cheat and they won't but they sure are taking a beating over it.

Or, is this just some sort of BS publicity stunt?

Could very well be, I don't put anything the Pats.