NFL - Playoffs Jan 2015

[The_Punisher]

The "sportswriter" that "broke" the story was on a Boston local sports radio station (98.5) this morning thundering his demand that Kraft fire Belichick. At the end of the day, this is always about various people's agendas.

As if Kraft is going to fire the greatest evil genius in NFL coaching history.

Exactly, this shit ain't gonna happen.....Suspicions reign. after the Sbowl (Pats won) ....ESPN will spend the next 8 months talking about How Great the Patriots are, How magnificent Tom Brady is and then...(spygate, deflated pigskin, etc....) and then it's on to will the pats repeat as Sbowl champion and will Brady become the Greatest QB of our generation?....

[Grape Ape]

CBSsportsline is getting 100+ posts a minute on this subject this morning.  It's crazy how much people are running with this.

[_aj_]

http://deadspin.com/the-patriots-ballghazi-scandal-cannot-be-overblown-enou-1680853191

If you've been struggling to care about the Patriots being accused of deflating footballs, and have been hoping the whole thing would just blow over so we could get to talking about a truly excellent and fascinating Super Bowl matchup, you, my friend, are shit out of luck. Ballghazi is real, and it is just the thing to fill an off-week.

ESPN reported last night that a league investigation has discovered that 11 of the Patriots' 12 footballs used in their whupping of the Colts were underinflated, and by a significant margin: two pounds per square inch below the acceptable 12.5-13.5 psi range. The NFL, per Chris Mortensen's source, is "disappointed ... angry ... distraught," not because there might be shenanigans going on here—no one should be shocked at that—but because the league now has to deal with this bullshit. ("Distraught!" This is the best, dumbest scandal.)

The more context that emerges, the more it feels like messing with footballs is akin to pitchers doctoring baseballs: everybody does it, and nobody looks too closely until an opponent publicly complains. Aaron Rodgers says he likes his balls overinflated. Brad Johnson says that before the Super Bowl, he paid "some guys" $7,500 to illegally rough up 100 game balls. Quarterbacks are understandably particular about the feel of their footballs, and teams seem to have an unspoken agreement to respect each other's freedom to squeeze and scuff and shine their own balls to their preference, as long as it stays within the bounds of decency. Either the Patriots went beyond those bounds, or the Colts were extra-salty and felt they had nothing to lose.

More at the link.

[El Diablo Blanco]

If the Pats won 35-33 or was a close game I can see this being an issue.  But sorry.  Underinflated balls didn't help the Pats win 45-7.  The Colts were outclassed altogether.  The balls were not the issue.

[240 is Back]

I'm going to predict the NFL will SUSPEND Belichick for the first 4-6 games of the 2015-2016 NFL season.

If the Pats won 35-33 or was a close game I can see this being an issue.  But sorry.  Underinflated balls didn't help the Pats win 45-7.  The Colts were outclassed altogether.  The balls were not the issue.

But in the cold rain, pats were throwing very comfortably early, while the Colts had to play safe with more runs early since the ball was harder to hold on to.  That changed the game plans for both.  Second half, and now the Colts HAVE to throw, so NE is better able to defend.  And second half, Pats are playing with a nice lead, which means Colts are crowding the line (lots of runs) so it's easy to break big passes, which they did.

playing with a nice lead is a HUGE advantage in football, moreso than in other sports.  When you're up 14, you can run nonstop and you have wide open deep plays.  When youre down 14, your gameplan is predictable and easy to defend.  I'm not saying Colts would have won, but I'm saying it if it was close at halftime, it's close at the end of the game.  Pats used a flat ball to make some really nice CATCHES early which set the Pats up with an advatnage for the entire game.

[_aj_]

I'm going to predict the NFL will SUSPEND Belichick for the first 4-6 games of the 2015-2016 NFL season.

But in the cold rain, pats were throwing very comfortably early, while the Colts had to play safe with more runs early since the ball was harder to hold on to.  That changed the game plans for both.  Second half, and now the Colts HAVE to throw, so NE is better able to defend.  And second half, Pats are playing with a nice lead, which means Colts are crowding the line (lots of runs) so it's easy to break big passes, which they did.

playing with a nice lead is a HUGE advantage in football, moreso than in other sports.  When you're up 14, you can run nonstop and you have wide open deep plays.  When youre down 14, your gameplan is predictable and easy to defend.  I'm not saying Colts would have won, but I'm saying it if it was close at halftime, it's close at the end of the game.  Pats used a flat ball to make some really nice CATCHES early which set the Pats up with an advatnage for the entire game.

My prediction is that this type of crystal ball gazing is going to be LIFETIME for Pat's Haters.

Yes, you are right, 2 PSI more in the ball and the Colts will 58-45. You sir, have NAILED IT.

[240 is Back]

My prediction is that this type of crystal ball gazing is going to be LIFETIME for Pat's Haters.

Yes, you are right, 2 PSI more in the ball and the Colts will 58-45. You sir, have NAILED IT.

If those balls aren't deflated, Gronk doesn't make that fingertip catch in the hard rain like that. 
If those balls aren't deflated, Brady's tiny-ass hands can't grip the ball so well in the rain and is less accurate, maybe fumbles.

Brady admitted in 2011 it gives him an advantage to under-inflate balls
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/20/brady-said-in-2011-he-likes-deflated-footballs/

[_aj_]

If those balls aren't deflated, Gronk doesn't make that fingertip catch in the hard rain like that. 
If those balls aren't deflated, Brady's tiny-ass hands can't grip the ball so well in the rain and is less accurate, maybe fumbles.

Brady admitted in 2011 it gives him an advantage to under-inflate balls
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/20/brady-said-in-2011-he-likes-deflated-footballs/

So then say it. Say the thing that you are dying to say, that nobody else has he balls to say. Say that the 2 PSI in the balls were the difference in a 45-7 blowout. Go ahead, please say it so that we can all get to laughing at you properly.

[Grape Ape]

If the Pats won 35-33 or was a close game I can see this being an issue.  But sorry.  Underinflated balls didn't help the Pats win 45-7.  The Colts were outclassed altogether.  The balls were not the issue.

Agree on the outcome of the game, but rules need to be enforced regardless of score.

[_aj_]

And since we are onto picayune second-guessing, I would like to add that I am suspicious of the league here. Was there a proper chain of evidence that was preserved for the balls as they went to the place to get tested? Was the testing facility vetted by both teams? Were the balls kept in a constant temperature, humidity and barometric pressure environment prior to testing? if not, I question the validity of the tests.

For instance, if the balls were put on a plane to get to the testing environment, they were likely put in the luggage compartment, which is NOT pressurized. The air in the balls would then have swelled and stretched the leather of the ball. Once returning to sea-level, the now-overstretched leather would have less resistance to the internal air pressure and voila: less internal air pressure.

Even if the balls were in the passenger compartment, it is pressurized to 8000 feet, quite a difference from sea-level and the same effect would happen.

This is a cluster fuck.

[Grape Ape]

And since we are onto picayune second-guessing, I would like to add that I am suspicious of the league here. Was there a proper chain of evidence that was preserved for the balls as they went to the place to get tested? Was the testing facility vetted by both teams? Were the balls kept in a constant temperature, humidity and barometric pressure environment prior to testing? if not, I question the validity of the tests.

Do you really doubt that this is beyond something the Patriots would do?

[_aj_]

Do you really doubt that this is beyond something the Patriots would do?

Nope, it's something that ALL TEAMS DO to make the footballs comfortable for the quarterback. Read the whole deadspin article that I posted above.

[240 is Back]

Do you really doubt that this is beyond something the Patriots would do?

Pats have a culture of cheating.  And they probably get away with more things we never find out about.  

The NFL suspended the Saints' coach for a full YEAR for bountygate.  yes, that involved injury, but at some point, Roger Goodell might just sack up and tell the world that Belichick is NOT above the league.  

[Wiggs]

Will you whiny pussies please shut up about this deflated ball situation?  Thank you. People with love of shitty teams piling on winning teams.

[Grape Ape]

Nope, it's something that ALL TEAMS DO to make the footballs comfortable for the quarterback. Read the whole deadspin article that I posted above.

They all deflate footballs beyond the range specified in the rules?

I just heard it put very well - if you get pulled over for speeding and your record is clean, the officer might let you go.  If you have prior offenses, the officer is more likely to give you a ticket.

Goes back to what I said earlier - Pats have this label by most of the country.  Whether Pats fans believe it or not is irrelevant.

[_aj_]

Will you whiny pussies please shut up about this deflated ball situation?  Thank you. People with love of shitty teams piling on winning teams.

Shizzo probably said it best: we are all a little self-conscious about deflated balls.

[Grape Ape]

Will you whiny pussies please shut up about this deflated ball situation?  Thank you. People with love of shitty teams piling on winning teams.

It's the hot sports topic everywhere and this is a message board.

[_aj_]

They all deflate footballs beyond the range specified in the rules?

I just heard it put very well - if you get pulled over for speeding and your record is clean, the officer might let you go.  If you have prior offenses, the officer is more likely to give you a ticket.

Goes back to what I said earlier - Pats have this label by most of the country.  Whether Pats fans believe it or not is irrelevant.

Actually, we are rather enjoying being the Oakland Raiders of the 21st century.

[Wiggs]

It's the hot sports topic everywhere and this is a message board.

Patriot Nation

[Grape Ape]

Patriot Nation

I live within 10 minutes of Gillette.  This topic is unavoidable.   Plus, I'm a Giants fan, so I can't be touched with being jealous of NE, because I wouldn't have changed a thing with them.

[Grape Ape]

Actually, we are rather enjoying being the Oakland Raiders of the 21st century.

Raiders didn't cheat like the Pats.

[Palpatine Q]

Nope, it's something that ALL TEAMS DO to make the footballs comfortable for the quarterback. Read the whole deadspin article that I posted above.

wow I had no idea you were such a homer.

I could care less either way, bottom line that is some shady shit, and gave Brady an advantage.

[_aj_]

wow I had no idea you were such a homer.

I could care less either way, bottom line that is some shady shit, and gave Brady an advantage.

I am not really, but I am enjoying stirring the pot a bit.

[240 is Back]

Bill Belichick fires Patriots ball boy for failing to fill 1 of 12 game balls.


wow, a great punishment would be forcing Pats to host the HBO show "Hard Knocks" for two years.  Couldn't get away with much cheating, with those cameras sniffing around everywhere.

[Nails]