Patriots being investigated after Colts game (2 Viewers)

[Devine Intervention]

So Eli admits to doctoring balls.

Rogers admits to doctoring balls.

Brad Johnson admits to BRIBING people in a superbowl to secretly doctor balls.

But....It's a Patriots issue............rrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

doctoring it inside of the rules is different. Im not sure how anyone is missing this.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Deflated Patriots' balls haven't been this newsworthy since Horatio Gates' after George Washington spoke at Newburgh.

Streeeeetttttch

 

[Run It Up]

Honestly I'm shocked NE was able to win at all with all this defective equipment.

 

[randall146]

Isnt it odd that the NFL allows the teams to handle the balls at all (outside of gameplay), much less provide them? NFL cant afford a couple dozen footballs?

Most likely, the NFL doesn't want to provide uniform footballs because the NFL wants the QBs to be successful. They are the stars and they sell the merchandise. When the QBs have footballs they can throw and their receivers can catch there's more offense, the fans are happy, and the NFL makes more billions.

We probably never would have heard about this if not for the initial tweet.

 

[devouredbychaos]

This whole saga is ####### hilarious. Numerous people have said it goes on league wide. Just seems like people are grasping at straws to deny that the BB Patriots are one of, if not the best franchise in NFL history. It's pretty clear that they pushed it to the limit, then the cold deflated the balls more. It's only massive because the media can get clicks on it.

Seriously, this is absurd. The Colts got beat because they couldn't win in the trenches. Not because of some ####### tinfoil hat bull####.

 

[Silver & Black]

The Pats are proven cheaters, they lose all benefit of any doubt. If deflating balls is no big deal, then why do it? They cheated, period. The punishment should be they forfeit the game, are fined $500,000 and lose all draft picks between rounds 1-4 for 5 years. Perhaps this will dissuade them from cheating. Otherwise, give them a slap on the wrist, let them advance and act surprised when they get caught cheating again next year.

And yes, that was a fumble. Tuck my ###

 

[Evilgrin 72]

Nation Can’t Wait To Hear Patriots Fans’ Excuses This Time

WASHINGTON—After an NFL investigation revealed that 11 of New England’s 12 game balls were under-inflated during last weekend’s AFC Championship Game, Americans across the nation announced Wednesday that they would love—absolutely love—to hear the excuses from Patriots fans this time. “No, no, by all means, go ahead,” said every single person living outside of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut before reportedly smiling and adding, “I’m all ears.” “Wait, let me guess: The deflated footballs were also easier to catch for the Colts defense, so the Patriots didn’t have a real advantage, right? Or is it that the score was so lopsided that it didn’t matter in the end? No, seriously, I’m sure you guys have something really great cooked up for this one.” The American populace went on to say that they also absolutely cannot wait to hear how this new scandal will have no effect on the legacy of Tom Brady.

 

[Bad_Mo]

Prepping us for punishments on ESPN.

A fine?

Got to be draft picks.

Take some picks please.

No Patriots fan likes what BB does with them anyway. Plus, it will save us hours waiting and wondering what they are going to do with them. Pretty boring to follow the coverage and when it finally gets to their pick...they trade down for more 6th round picks and a bag of under inflated balls. I'd like to know upfront how much time I can not dedicate to draft coverage.

 

[CR69]

So Eli admits to doctoring balls.

Rogers admits to doctoring balls.

Brad Johnson admits to BRIBING people in a superbowl to secretly doctor balls.

But....It's a Patriots issue............rrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

doctoring it inside of the rules is different. Im not sure how anyone is missing this.

 

[The General]

Pretty much everyone agrees this isn't a big deal, right?

However, everyone would also agree that changing the balls to a condition outside the rules after they have been OK'd game ready by the refs is a bit shady, right?

That's different than Eli doing witchcraft to his ball, or Rodgers filling them up. Those are OK'd by the refs and not changed after.

Lord, the game can't get here quick enough.

Until we know what happened, its tough to say.

IMO there are two likely scenarios:

1. Patriots submitted slightly deflated gameballs to a referee group whose "inspection" has become rather routine. Balls pass inspection. IMO this isn't cheating at all.

2. Patriots submitted gameballs to ref, ref accepted balls, Pats go back and deflate the balls. This is quite shady and while it doesnt' bother me, I can see why it would bother others, especially due to the Pats' history.

Point 1 is fine. The refs spot the ball every down so seems like if it were that big of a deal they would notice in game

Point 2 is shady and anyone who says otherwise is being a homer. It's not crazy cheating like the videotaping but it would still be cheating.

 

[shader]

According to Adam Schefter, the Colts notified the NFL about under-inflation after their November game.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/21/report-colts-had-inflation-concerns-in-november-matchup-with-patriots/

Seriously, could the NFL be more inept? No matter which side of the fence you are on in this matter, they seem to bungle every issue that comes their way.

 

[Run It Up]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

 

[Bad_Mo]

The Pats are proven cheaters, they lose all benefit of any doubt. If deflating balls is no big deal, then why do it? They cheated, period. The punishment should be they forfeit the game, are fined $500,000 and lose all draft picks between rounds 1-4 for 5 years. Perhaps this will dissuade them from cheating. Otherwise, give them a slap on the wrist, let them advance and act surprised when they get caught cheating again next year.

And yes, that was a fumble. Tuck my ###

Oh...you said TUCK

 

[MG345]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

The only relevant difference would be when the altering occurs. If all those balls are heated/cooled/scuffed and then checked by the refs, then the onus is on the NFL. IF any of those things happen after the refs check them, then the onus is on the team. Pretty simple.

 

[rockaction]

Prepping us for punishments on ESPN.

A fine?

Got to be draft picks.

Take some picks please.

No Patriots fan likes what BB does with them anyway. Plus, it will save us hours waiting and wondering what they are going to do with them. Pretty boring to follow the coverage and when it finally gets to their pick...they trade down for more 6th round picks and a bag of under inflated balls. I'd like to know upfront how much time I can not dedicate to draft coverage.

True.

 

[zilladog]

So Eli admits to doctoring balls.

Rogers admits to doctoring balls.

Brad Johnson admits to BRIBING people in a superbowl to secretly doctor balls.

But....It's a Patriots issue............rrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

doctoring it inside of the rules is different. Im not sure how anyone is missing this.

But Rogers has admitted to inflating his footballs outside the rules limit. Not sure how your missing this.

 

[Bad_Mo]

Honestly I'm shocked NE was able to win at all with all this defective equipment.

28-0 in the 2nd half after the refs re-inflated the balls to their proper PSI.

Clearly, the under inflated balls were an unfair advantage to the Colts.

Why isn't that kid-hating, angry drunkard, Kravitz, investigating this angle?

 

[The General]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

If they are doing it AFTER the refs do their inspection. That would be different.

 

[shader]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

I need to go buy an official ball, a pump, a heater and my freezer and play around for awhile to see what sort of differences i can cause in psi over the course of a short period of time.

Does really cold weather cause a ball to deflate? How much? By how many pounds? How quickly will that happen? If the Pats present a ball at the low end of the psi scale, knowing that after 2 hours in the cold it will further deflate, that's different than deflating it on your own.

Need Bill Nye or the mythbusters to get off the couch and work on a live primetime special on nfl network.

 

[jonessed]

Biden was talking about it on CBS This Morning . What a nightmare for the NFL. The team and the timing could not have been worse.

 

[Run It Up]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

The only relevant difference would be when the altering occurs. If all those balls are heated/cooled/scuffed and then checked by the refs, then the onus is on the NFL. IF any of those things happen after the refs check them, then the onus is on the team. Pretty simple.

Okay, so they are exactly the same, as any logical person would conclude.

So then the issue becomes, did the alteration occur before or after inspection. Its pretty clear if it was before it wasn't cheating and after it is cheating.

No one has said one way or the other, and yet half the voices in this thread have made it abundantly clear that its irrelevant to them when it took place. Yet its explicitly outlined in the rulebook that its up to the refs discretion.

 

[MG345]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

I need to go buy an official ball, a pump, a heater and my freezer and play around for awhile to see what sort of differences i can cause in psi over the course of a short period of time.

Does really cold weather cause a ball to deflate? How much? By how many pounds? How quickly will that happen? If the Pats present a ball at the low end of the psi scale, knowing that after 2 hours in the cold it will further deflate, that's different than deflating it on your own.

Need Bill Nye or the mythbusters to get off the couch and work on a live primetime special on nfl network.

This math has already been done multiple times. Yes, temp can affecting pressurization. It would take more of a temp differential than any point during the game. All of the balls would have deflated at a similar rate if it was due to temp, which was not case apparently.

 

[shader]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

I need to go buy an official ball, a pump, a heater and my freezer and play around for awhile to see what sort of differences i can cause in psi over the course of a short period of time.

Does really cold weather cause a ball to deflate? How much? By how many pounds? How quickly will that happen? If the Pats present a ball at the low end of the psi scale, knowing that after 2 hours in the cold it will further deflate, that's different than deflating it on your own.

Need Bill Nye or the mythbusters to get off the couch and work on a live primetime special on nfl network.

This math has already been done multiple times. Yes, temp can affecting pressurization. It would take more of a temp differential than any point during the game. All of the balls would have deflated at a similar rate if it was due to temp, which was not case apparently.

Would you mind linking so I can read this?

 

[MG345]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

The only relevant difference would be when the altering occurs. If all those balls are heated/cooled/scuffed and then checked by the refs, then the onus is on the NFL. IF any of those things happen after the refs check them, then the onus is on the team. Pretty simple.

Okay, so they are exactly the same, as any logical person would conclude.

So then the issue becomes, did the alteration occur before or after inspection. Its pretty clear if it was before it wasn't cheating and after it is cheating.

No one has said one way or the other, and yet half the voices in this thread have made it abundantly clear that its irrelevant to them when it took place. Yet its explicitly outlined in the rulebook that its up to the refs discretion.

They aren't exactly the same, because altering the ball after the ref check allows them to get away with things not within the generally accepted guidelines. I agree with everything else you said.

 

[Workhorse]

Kevin Clark ‏@KevinClarkWSJ 4m4 minutes ago

NFL head coaches here at Senior Bowl seem downright offended that people think this deflation stuff is a big deal.

 

[shader]

This is all a big setup by the NFL to get you to watch the new live "ballcam" that will occur 2 hours before the game. You'll get to watch the ball inspection and then see where the balls go and what happens to them right up until kickoff.

 

[The General]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

The only relevant difference would be when the altering occurs. If all those balls are heated/cooled/scuffed and then checked by the refs, then the onus is on the NFL. IF any of those things happen after the refs check them, then the onus is on the team. Pretty simple.

Okay, so they are exactly the same, as any logical person would conclude.

So then the issue becomes, did the alteration occur before or after inspection. Its pretty clear if it was before it wasn't cheating and after it is cheating.

No one has said one way or the other, and yet half the voices in this thread have made it abundantly clear that its irrelevant to them when it took place. Yet its explicitly outlined in the rulebook that its up to the refs discretion.

Yes, that's the whole point. We'll see what happens with the "investigation".

Right now they just know that they were deflated. If they were changed after the ref inspected then it's cheating.

 

[shader]

Kevin Clark ‏@KevinClarkWSJ 4m4 minutes ago

NFL head coaches here at Senior Bowl seem downright offended that people think this deflation stuff is a big deal.

Welcome to the TMZ/twitter generation.

 

[Run It Up]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

The only relevant difference would be when the altering occurs. If all those balls are heated/cooled/scuffed and then checked by the refs, then the onus is on the NFL. IF any of those things happen after the refs check them, then the onus is on the team. Pretty simple.

Okay, so they are exactly the same, as any logical person would conclude.

So then the issue becomes, did the alteration occur before or after inspection. Its pretty clear if it was before it wasn't cheating and after it is cheating.

No one has said one way or the other, and yet half the voices in this thread have made it abundantly clear that its irrelevant to them when it took place. Yet its explicitly outlined in the rulebook that its up to the refs discretion.

They aren't exactly the same, because altering the ball after the ref check allows them to get away with things not within the generally accepted guidelines. I agree with everything else you said.

No one is contesting that...

No one has reported that the balls were altered after inspection.

 

[MG345]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

I need to go buy an official ball, a pump, a heater and my freezer and play around for awhile to see what sort of differences i can cause in psi over the course of a short period of time.

Does really cold weather cause a ball to deflate? How much? By how many pounds? How quickly will that happen? If the Pats present a ball at the low end of the psi scale, knowing that after 2 hours in the cold it will further deflate, that's different than deflating it on your own.

Need Bill Nye or the mythbusters to get off the couch and work on a live primetime special on nfl network.

This math has already been done multiple times. Yes, temp can affecting pressurization. It would take more of a temp differential than any point during the game. All of the balls would have deflated at a similar rate if it was due to temp, which was not case apparently.

Would you mind linking so I can read this?

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2015/01/deflategate_blame_it_on_the_rain_or_is_there_no_de.html

- For a ball that barely meets specifications (12.5 psi), it's pressure would drop to 11.8 psi during the game... enough to be considered massively under-inflated.

Temp would affect pressurization, enough to bring the ball under the mandated limit. It does not account for the depressurization that was seen, even the weather into account. The key here is that all of the balls would have seen the same depressurization, and they didn't. It has been assumed that the Colts' 12 balls all came back within the limits as well.

 

[devouredbychaos]

Kevin Clark ‏@KevinClarkWSJ 4m4 minutes ago

NFL head coaches here at Senior Bowl seem downright offended that people think this deflation stuff is a big deal.

Welcome to the We Hate The Pats and Will Grasp At Any Little Straw To Discredit Them Generation

 

[MG345]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

The only relevant difference would be when the altering occurs. If all those balls are heated/cooled/scuffed and then checked by the refs, then the onus is on the NFL. IF any of those things happen after the refs check them, then the onus is on the team. Pretty simple.

Okay, so they are exactly the same, as any logical person would conclude.

So then the issue becomes, did the alteration occur before or after inspection. Its pretty clear if it was before it wasn't cheating and after it is cheating.

No one has said one way or the other, and yet half the voices in this thread have made it abundantly clear that its irrelevant to them when it took place. Yet its explicitly outlined in the rulebook that its up to the refs discretion.

They aren't exactly the same, because altering the ball after the ref check allows them to get away with things not within the generally accepted guidelines. I agree with everything else you said.

No one is contesting that...

No one has reported that the balls were altered after inspection.

I agree with you.

 

[Warrior]

Honestly I'm shocked NE was able to win at all with all this defective equipment.

28-0 in the 2nd half after the refs re-inflated the balls to their proper PSI.

Clearly, the under inflated balls were an unfair advantage to the Colts.

Why isn't that kid-hating, angry drunkard, Kravitz, investigating this angle?

The result doesn't have anything to do with the legality. If you attempt to murder someone by firing a gun and miss, does that mean you're not guilty?

 

[RUSF18]

This reminds me of the George Brett pine tar incident.

So listening to Jerry Austin (long time, maybe 20+ year ref) on Dan Patrick he says that the footballs were never, ever checked in all his years of being a ref.

So it sounds like this is the kind of thing that could have been going on for a while, and nobody ever dd anything about it or asked for a check.

Just like George Brett, they're going to make an example out of him.

The Pats and BB desrve to be where they are and Roger Goodell will continue to be a monkey who simply jumps and dances whenever he thinks he hears the tune of bad pr playing.

Matt Leinart weighing in:

Matt Leinart ‏@MattLeinartQB 5m5 minutes ago

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

Re: what you said about Austin, and in response to this tweet, Peter King said that while doing a story on Gene Steratore and his crew, he personally witnessed him checking every ball on both sides of a game Leinart played in (well, dressed in).

 

[Gandalf the Grey]

it's pretty obvious that every aspect of this organization needs-and requires- extra scrutiny going forward. This is organizational dysfunction. They apparently feel rules don't apply to them. It goes without saying that all their accomplishments are now suspect.

Tarnished legacy.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

No one has reported that the balls were altered after inspection.

Not yet. But they have said that the original inspection was done correctly. So...

 

[ROCKET]

As a Pats fan I'm loving this. Now I know for sure we would have never won anything without our cheating ways. All that cheating has brought us 3 SB's and kept us on top of the standings for over a decade. More cheating please, I love it.

 

[The General]

Honestly I'm shocked NE was able to win at all with all this defective equipment.

28-0 in the 2nd half after the refs re-inflated the balls to their proper PSI.

Clearly, the under inflated balls were an unfair advantage to the Colts.

Why isn't that kid-hating, angry drunkard, Kravitz, investigating this angle?

The result doesn't have anything to do with the legality. If you attempt to murder someone by firing a gun and miss, does that mean you're not guilty?

Probably don't want to use murder in any analogy with this.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

No one has reported that the balls were altered after inspection.

Not yet. But they have said that the original inspection was done correctly. So...

Link?

 

[moleculo]

If the pressure of the footballs was measured outside, in the cold, at half-time, I could see a 2 psi drop being justified and this is a non-issue.

If the footballs were brought inside and allowed to warm up prior to measuring the pressure, this is a big deal.

We need to know more about how and when the refs re-checked the footballs.

 

[JIslander]

Kevin Clark ‏@KevinClarkWSJ 4m4 minutes ago

NFL head coaches here at Senior Bowl seem downright offended that people think this deflation stuff is a big deal.

Welcome to the We Hate The Pats and Will Grasp At Any Little Straw To Discredit Them Generation

dat salt

 

[MG345]

If the pressure of the footballs was measured outside, in the cold, at half-time, I could see a 2 psi drop being justified and this is a non-issue.

If the footballs were brought inside and allowed to warm up prior to measuring the pressure, this is a big deal.

We need to know more about how and when the refs re-checked the footballs.

Some insight into the whole process would be great. Details are so vague right now, which is fueling a lot of the speculation and conspiracy theories.

 

[((Morpheus))]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

I need to go buy an official ball, a pump, a heater and my freezer and play around for awhile to see what sort of differences i can cause in psi over the course of a short period of time.

Does really cold weather cause a ball to deflate? How much? By how many pounds? How quickly will that happen? If the Pats present a ball at the low end of the psi scale, knowing that after 2 hours in the cold it will further deflate, that's different than deflating it on your own.

Need Bill Nye or the mythbusters to get off the couch and work on a live primetime special on nfl network.

This math has already been done multiple times. Yes, temp can affecting pressurization. It would take more of a temp differential than any point during the game. All of the balls would have deflated at a similar rate if it was due to temp, which was not case apparently.

Would you mind linking so I can read this?

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2015/01/deflategate_blame_it_on_the_rain_or_is_there_no_de.html

- For a ball that barely meets specifications (12.5 psi), it's pressure would drop to 11.8 psi during the game... enough to be considered massively under-inflated.

Temp would affect pressurization, enough to bring the ball under the mandated limit. It does not account for the depressurization that was seen, even the weather into account. The key here is that all of the balls would have seen the same depressurization, and they didn't. It has been assumed that the Colts' 12 balls all came back within the limits as well.

Math nerd here posting from the can.

1) the reddit post fails to account for atmospheric pressure, so the change in psi due to temperature drop is actually greater than what he concludes. And based on the driving rain during the game I'd be willing to bet the atmospheric pressure dropped as well

2) we can't assume that Indy's balls were tested, but that would certainly change things. I doubt the league was smart enough to use proper controls, however.

3) I'm guessing the 12th ball was the overinflated ball for the kicking game. We also don't know its exact psi

 

[Gandalf the Grey]

If the pressure of the footballs was measured outside, in the cold, at half-time, I could see a 2 psi drop being justified and this is a non-issue.

If the footballs were brought inside and allowed to warm up prior to measuring the pressure, this is a big deal.

We need to know more about how and when the refs re-checked the footballs.

ESPN reported that this was an issue in November when the Pats/Colts played...in a dome. Mike Adams picked Brady twice, sent at least one of the balls to his equipment manager who noticed-and apparently reported-the ball was under inflated. It was 51 degrees in the dome.

The Patriots just don't care. You're not breaking rules unless you get caught apparently.

 

[The General]

No one has reported that the balls were altered after inspection.

Not yet. But they have said that the original inspection was done correctly. So...

The stuff I read didn't confirm what all happened in the inspection just that it was done and the ref gave the OK. Does that mean the guy actually measured the PSI or just said feels good and moved on.

Pretty easy question to ask in the "investigation".

Still haven't seen any player saying this is a big deal either way. But, if it can be proven that Pats were messing with the balls after the refs measured their needs to be some penalty more than a small fine.

 

[Run It Up]

If the pressure of the footballs was measured outside, in the cold, at half-time, I could see a 2 psi drop being justified and this is a non-issue.

If the footballs were brought inside and allowed to warm up prior to measuring the pressure, this is a big deal.

We need to know more about how and when the refs re-checked the footballs.

ESPN reported that this was an issue in November when the Pats/Colts played...in a dome. Mike Adams picked Brady twice, sent at least one of the balls to his equipment manager who noticed-and apparently reported-the ball was under inflated. It was 51 degrees in the dome.

The Patriots just don't care. You're not breaking rules unless you get caught apparently.

In most cases, you're not breaking the rules if you aren't the Patriots.

The Seahawks had more players found guilty of using PEDs last year than any other team, Broncos the second. Why wasn't that a scandal? Why is this a scandal?

 

[Niles Standish]

Pretty much everyone agrees this isn't a big deal, right?

However, everyone would also agree that changing the balls to a condition outside the rules after they have been OK'd game ready by the refs is a bit shady, right?

That's different than Eli doing witchcraft to his ball, or Rodgers filling them up. Those are OK'd by the refs and not changed after.

Lord, the game can't get here quick enough.

If the Pats submitted the balls at 10.5 PSI or whatever (11.5 or 12 and they deflated due to temp) then no big deal. That's no different than what Eli or Aaron Rodgers do.

If they submit proper balls and then deflate them after the refs OK'd them. Then it's different. That's the next part of the story to fall.

 

[rockaction]

No one has reported that the balls were altered after inspection.

Not yet. But they have said that the original inspection was done correctly. So...

The stuff I read didn't confirm what all happened in the inspection just that it was done and the ref gave the OK. Does that mean the guy actually measured the PSI or just said feels good and moved on.

Pretty easy question to ask in the "investigation".

Still haven't seen any player saying this is a big deal either way. But, if it can be proven that Pats were messing with the balls after the refs measured their needs to be some penalty more than a small fine.

Brunell, Bettis, Traynor, and a bunch of guys have said it's a big deal.

 

[shader]

How is overinflating it, heating/cooling/scuffing anymore within the rules than underinflating it? Like how ####### dumb of a position to take is that?

I need to go buy an official ball, a pump, a heater and my freezer and play around for awhile to see what sort of differences i can cause in psi over the course of a short period of time.

Does really cold weather cause a ball to deflate? How much? By how many pounds? How quickly will that happen? If the Pats present a ball at the low end of the psi scale, knowing that after 2 hours in the cold it will further deflate, that's different than deflating it on your own.

Need Bill Nye or the mythbusters to get off the couch and work on a live primetime special on nfl network.

This math has already been done multiple times. Yes, temp can affecting pressurization. It would take more of a temp differential than any point during the game. All of the balls would have deflated at a similar rate if it was due to temp, which was not case apparently.

Would you mind linking so I can read this?

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2015/01/deflategate_blame_it_on_the_rain_or_is_there_no_de.html

- For a ball that barely meets specifications (12.5 psi), it's pressure would drop to 11.8 psi during the game... enough to be considered massively under-inflated.

Temp would affect pressurization, enough to bring the ball under the mandated limit. It does not account for the depressurization that was seen, even the weather into account. The key here is that all of the balls would have seen the same depressurization, and they didn't. It has been assumed that the Colts' 12 balls all came back within the limits as well.

How do you know? What if the Colts started at 14.5 and the Pats started at 12.5, both within range? We don't know what the psi's were at inspection and what they were later in the game. We don't have enough details.

 

[Gandalf the Grey]

If the pressure of the footballs was measured outside, in the cold, at half-time, I could see a 2 psi drop being justified and this is a non-issue.

If the footballs were brought inside and allowed to warm up prior to measuring the pressure, this is a big deal.

We need to know more about how and when the refs re-checked the footballs.

ESPN reported that this was an issue in November when the Pats/Colts played...in a dome. Mike Adams picked Brady twice, sent at least one of the balls to his equipment manager who noticed-and apparently reported-the ball was under inflated. It was 51 degrees in the dome.

The Patriots just don't care. You're not breaking rules unless you get caught apparently.

In most cases, you're not breaking the rules if you aren't the Patriots.The Seahawks had more players found guilty of using PEDs last year than any other team, Broncos the second. Why wasn't that a scandal? Why is this a scandal?

So is this the "persecuted Patriots" defense, or the "everybody does it" defense? Kind of confused here.