Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Balls Used By Patriots In AFC Championship Game Were Underinflated

An NFL investigation has determined that 11 of the 12 balls furnished by the New England Patriots for use in their AFC championship win over the Colts were underinflated according to various news reports. How those balls became deflated has not yet been determined. It's unlikely weather played a role since temperatures were in the 50s at game time.

A Colts staff member noticed the potential issue late in the second quarter after being handed one of the balls following a Colts interception. The staff member reportedly told Coach Chuck Pagano, who notified NFL officials of the problem. The detection of the problem before the second half was played did not detour the Patriots from routing the Colts.

Any punishment the team receives from the rules infraction is not likely to be severe. The team faces a minimum fine of $25,000 and, if the NFL determines it was an egregious enough rules violation, the loss of a first-round draft choice. That latter offense was meted out to the Patriots in 2007 after they were caught using cameras to spy on opposing teams during the game.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Colts just can't get anyone's balls hard?

Maybe the Colts make anyone's balls go limp?

The Colts are so pathetic.

Anonymous said...

What was the PSI of the Colts' balls in the post-game inspection?

Anonymous said...

This is going to be funny, trying to see the NFL be scientists.

What was the pressure change of the control ball at the post-game inspection?

Were the Patriots' balls, the Colts' balls and the official control ball all from the same factory lot?

What is the official internal volume of an NFL ball, and does the NFL ensure that each team is provided by the factory with a conforming ball? Does each ball bear an official NFL inspection stamp?

During the game, the temperature dropped over 20 degrees and went from dry to snowy conditions. What is the effect on gas volume in declining temperature?

The NFL is going to come up against some Boston lawyers who are going to have a fun time embarrassing the League over its anti-Science and unilateral analysis.

MIT and Harvard are in Boston, and they have some pretty good Physicists at those schools. The League is going to look like fools for again trying to attack the Patriots.

The NFL tried to keep the Colts in that game by refusing to call pass interference on the Colts. What do the Colts have on the NFL? What did the Patriots not want to play ball with the NFL on?

The NFL looks very fishy.