American Football Talk II

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So it's looking more and more like Adam Gase to Jacksonville, as the OC. Trestman's gone to Baltimore, to fill the vacant OC position.

Doug Marronne is the new O-line coach/assistant head coach, which is a good move -- he's a good o-line specialist, and the Jags need all the help they can get on the offensive line, now, in free agency, and through the draft. However, on the offense, they are just a TE and a feature back away in the skill positions on offense. In the draft, and through free agency, they can address the secondary and offensive line, and then use the usual depth additions.

Indeed. The more I think about it though, if the Patriots were cheating, it would be incredibly difficult to pull off. The referees touch the ball every single down. They'd know pretty quickly, if anything's up.

The ball-boys and girls are the only other people to handle the football. Even if it's systematic...how will they ensure that the Patriots offense gets the 'deflated' football, and not the Colts' offense? The teams change halfs. Also, the ball which was taken away, for a routine test, was a kicking football, which are completely different to the ones used on offense/defense...

So, in order for that to happen, the refs, the NFL, and the ball-boys and girls have to be in on the whole shebang. That's just implausible. People just want to believe the made up work of some bitter Indianapolis hack, because his team got smacked.

99.99999%+ sure that there's nothing to see here, so this meme sums things up nicely....

The NFL found the New England Patriots used deflated footballs during the AFC Championship, according to a report from Chris Mortensen of ESPN. According to the report, the league sources say the NFL determined 11 of the 12 footballs used by the Patriots were under-inflated by two pounds per square inch each. Per NFL rules, footballs are required to be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 PSI and weigh between 14 and 15 ounces.
While Mortenson cites league sources, the NFL is yet to comment on the investigation. The Patriots maintain they will cooperate with the NFL. Reports about under-inflated footballs used by the Patriots surfaced only a few hours after the AFC Championship ended. The NFL and the Patriots responded the following day, with the league saying it would look into the matter and expected to resolve the investigation quickly.
The inflation of the footballs may not have come into question had Tom Brady not thrown an interception. According to reports, D'Qwell Jackson handed the ball he intercepted to a member of the equipment staff. That person then told Colts head coach Chuck Pagano of the issue with the ball. Word was eventually passed on to Indianapolis general manager Ryan Grigson and Mike Kensil, NFL director of football operations.
NFL teams prepare their own 12 game balls, which are checked by officials prior to kickoff. After being checked, balls are given to an attendant who works with officials to rotate footballs in play. There is a separate set of kicking balls, used only for special teams.
With the investigation still ongoing, any potential punishment remains unknown. According to initial reports, the Patriots could be fined and even docked draft picks if the league determines the balls were intentionally deflated.

From: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/1/20/7864117/patriots-deflated-footballs-nfl-new-england-bill-belichick

BTW, it's 2lb per square inch of pressure less than that which was supposed to be in the balls. Not 2lbs weight less. FWIW.

But it seems to me that if they were ALL uniformly under inflated, then the fault lies either with the machine used to inflate them, or the referees for not doing their job properly pre-game. For heaven's sake, if it WAS tampering, how in the name of all the Gods of Football was it pulled off and so perfectly uniform? That's the key right there because there are cameras everywhere, not just the shots we see on TV and in the game film, but also security cams along the sidelines, end zones, etc. More than some casinos have. So someone took the balls, used a gauge to deflate them ALL by the same amount of 2psi, and did this with no one watching? It's absurd.

AND....... who is to say that the deflation wasn't a result of the game use, Gronk spikes, players falling on them or even weather conditions?

AND..... while we're at it, did anyone from the NFL take a look at all the Colts footballs and their inflation? Besides, if they weren't checked right at the end of the game, then the chain of custody prohibits any meaningful checks, because the Colts, had they wanted to, could have brought their game-used footballs up to a proper amount of psi inflation, or mixed them in with other footballs, etc.

This whole things sucks, and looks much more like a case of mechanical failure and/or inspection error than any intentional tampering. For myself, I just don't see how, with those footballs being brought in and out of play every series (or sooner), and with all the cameras, security personnel, fans, reporters, etc, that the team could have had anyone DO this deflation. It defies common sense.

But that's just me, you know? The media will have another sensational faux scandal on their hands, and lord knows how they love to run with any sort of rumor about New England.

You're a fan of this strange rugby?

I am indeed! Seems we support the same team, again. Typical.

This deflate-gate has been some of the worst, most biased reporting I've ever seen in my life. Except for the huns dying, maybe.

The journalism is a joke. Now Jackson the linebacker who supposedly noticed it was flat has come out and said he noticed nothing. Just what is going on...