Patriots Definitely Underinflated Balls in AFC Championship

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Originally Posted by quickstrike2

I haven't read much about it, but did the NFL take any of Indy footballs and compare their pregame and during game weights as well? Or did they just take the Patriots football and crucify them immediately, when it's possible other teams do this as well or maybe even the temperature or other outside factors had something to do with it. BB and the Patriots are definitely rule benders and do everything they can to gain an advantage, but I think folks are out to get them because 1) They have been to 6 bowls in recent memory 2) Most teams haven't been able to beat them so let's find something (this was a 45-7 game, do you think air weights changed 38 points? and 3) Teams didn't think of it first (Against the Ravens, BB used a technique within the rules to gain an advantage.)

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"Rule benders"? Are you for real? They are out & out cheaters. What they have been caught doing is certifiable, undeniable, willful cheating, and they should be punished for it, period!

You, Sir, are an apologist. Rule-bending is doing things like, watering an infield down when you're about to play a fast team. Cheating is when you blatantly and intentionally break a rule. The Pats balls were inspected by the refs prior to kickoff, then returned to them. They WILLFULLY took 2 lbs of air out KNOWING it was significant cheating to do so.

I don't give a damn how big of a target they may have on their backs, cheating is cheating, and it is probably a main reason why many folks don't like the Pats.

As far as I'm concerned, they should get significantly harsher punishment since this is the 2nd time in recent memory that they have been caught cheating. It suggests a culture of cheating that does not belong in the NFL. It cheapens the game, mars the Pats history and gives the NFL a huge black eye if they don't respond appropriately.

I just don't get it..the pats have beaten the hell out of the colts the last few time they've met. Why do they feel the need to cheat?

And no matter how you look at it, the broke the rules..therefore they cheated..

I believe the pats would have won the game regardless..but what is it about bill b that causes him to make these decisions? They've beaten the hell out of teams all year and honestly I don't think using regulation footballs would have changed the outcome. But damn..this is the second time they've been caught cheating..and two different ways. It makes you think...how often and how many different ways have they "bent the rules" in order to get an advantage...

Something I find funny..Monday morning on espn..they were showing clips of all these interviews with Brady, bill, elderman and I think Vince wilfork(which was pretty funny)..well they all laughed it off, like "yeah right..that's some dumb allegations"...now the truth comes out. I hope goodell had the balls to implement some harsh penalties..and for the pats, that would be to take away their draft picks. For a team that loves to stockpile picks, taking them away would hurt them the most...

Question for the board...
What do you think is the reason they continue to bend the rules??

My opinion..concerning the deflated football..I think they've been doing it because of the wrs they have. I think it's easier to catch a football that is somewhat deflated compared to one the fully pumped up..look at 3 of their leading receivers..2 small white guys and a rb..I doubt any of the 3 have very large hands and the pats used deflated balls are easier to catch. Just my theory..hell it could be that bill b is just an egotistical ass that likes to bend the rules in his favor

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Originally Posted by I seen it dawg

I guess the flat footballs helped Legarette Blount and the offensive line treat Indys defense like the little bitches they are up front. They ran the ball up their ass at will. They could have used a snow cone in place of a football the entire game and the outcome wouldn't have been any different.

Typical of people today and the NFL in general...nfl will prob fine the Pats $1 million and one of Brady's kids for using suspect footballs while some asshole that beats the shit out of his wife or kids gets to sit out WITH FULL PAY while the league does nothing but sit on their hands because of "being fair". Domestic abuse, drugs, general moronic societal activity is normal but under inflate a couple of footballs and the franchise gets disembowled.

Maybe Bracky did an internship in the NFL offices we don't know about....

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I agree with you fully that the outcome of the game would have been the same...but the deal is they cheated..they broke NFL rules.

There's a difference between NFL regulations and laws we must follow as a society

The pieces of shit that hit their wives/significant others..that seemed like a team(Ravens) decision to keep paying him. It's looks like the NFL has now stepped up and will take more of a dictatorship role for the players that continue to be assholes

And has been already posted, did they cheat in the game versus Baltimore? If they did, it very well could have made the difference.

Does anybody here really think the Pats would cheat versus Indy, but not versus Baltimore?

To me, this trumps the idea that NE somehow deserves to be in the SB "because they would have beat Indy anyway".

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Originally Posted by blacklistedbully

And has been already posted, did they cheat in the game versus Baltimore? If they did, it very well could have made the difference.

Does anybody here really think the Pats would cheat versus Indy, but not versus Baltimore?

To me, this trumps the idea that NE somehow deserves to be in the SB "because they would have beat Indy anyway".

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Excellent point!

My opinion, they should be banned from this year's draft. No picks, no trades...nothing. All Pats picks for 2015 forfeited no matter how they were acquired.

I may be wrong, but I do not think that NE is the only ones doctoring footballs. Just on Yahoo today, I have read where Brad Johnson paid $7,500 to get all the footballs for the Super Bowl scuffed up and worn, Rodgers likes the staff to over inflate footballs (technically against the rules), a longtime college manager was interviewed and says fixing footballs to the quarterbacks liking is common practice, and that USC got caught doing this same thing against Oregon. It has been reported that the Colt player that intercepted the pass noticed the difference and informed the coaching staff, so that would mean that for almost an entire half the referees that placed, tossed, caught, and spotted the footballs didn't notice a difference until this. I'm not trying to overly defend the Patriots because they have been caught cheating before, I just don't think they are the one team in the history of football to do this.

ESPN just had two former QBs attempt to tell the difference between a properly inflated ball and one deflated by 2 lbs. and they couldn't tell which is which. This story is getting blown out of proportion.

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Originally Posted by Dawg61

ESPN just had two former QBs attempt to tell the difference between a properly inflated ball and one deflated by 2 lbs. and they couldn't tell which is which. This story is getting blown out of proportion.

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Wayyy out of proportion. This site didn't give a shit that the Penn State Football department was running a pedophile prostitution ring of little boys, but God forbid if the Patriots were playing with footballs that were a little deflated. DEATH PENALTY!!***

Y'all remind me of Les Miles after we "stomped" that ass.

Just because there is no proof that it actually helped them win this week makes little difference to me.

To me the question remains: Why this week against this opponent? I say it's because he has been doing it all along. This isn't new to this game or even this year. You probably could go back to every cold home game they have won since he has been there and find this happening. Does it really help? He believes it helps or he wouldn't be doing it.

Dude is a cheater and he has been exposed... Twice! He got off easy on Spy-gate, it's time for a suspension, and immediately.


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Originally Posted by quickstrike2

I may be wrong, but I do not think that NE is the only ones doctoring footballs. Just on Yahoo today, I have read where Brad Johnson paid $7,500 to get all the footballs for the Super Bowl scuffed up and worn, Rodgers likes the staff to over inflate footballs (technically against the rules), a longtime college manager was interviewed and says fixing footballs to the quarterbacks liking is common practice, and that USC got caught doing this same thing against Oregon. It has been reported that the Colt player that intercepted the pass noticed the difference and informed the coaching staff, so that would mean that for almost an entire half the referees that placed, tossed, caught, and spotted the footballs didn't notice a difference until this. I'm not trying to overly defend the Patriots because they have been caught cheating before, I just don't think they are the one team in the history of football to do this.

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Well, hell. let's just not enforce any rules or dole out any punishment in cases where we're pretty damned sure others are doing it too. We could get rid of the NCAA entirely and allow open cheating. So what if Auburn paid Cam $40k to go there instead of playing for us. Other teams pay players, right?***

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Originally Posted by blacklistedbully

Well, hell. let's just not enforce any rules or dole out any punishment in cases where we're pretty damned sure others are doing it too. We could get rid of the NCAA entirely and allow open cheating. So what if Auburn paid Cam $40k to go there instead of playing for us. Other teams pay players, right?***

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From what I can tell, Auburn did get away with that, Ole Miss gets away with their stuff, and the NCAA allows open cheating for the most part except in Starkville.

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Originally Posted by quickstrike2

From what I can tell, Auburn did get away with that, Ole Miss gets away with their stuff, and the NCAA allows open cheating for the most part except in Starkville.

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So do you think it was right for them to get away with it? Do you think they should not have had to pay a penalty for that? Should we just say, what-the-hell, let's just let 'em do it, since others are doing it too?

BTW, they got away with it, in part, because they didn't get definitively caught. The Pats appear to have been caught.

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Originally Posted by blacklistedbully

So do you think it was right for them to get away with it? Do you think they should not have had to pay a penalty for that? Should we just say, what-the-hell, let's just let 'em do it, since others are doing it too?

BTW, they got away with it, in part, because they didn't get definitively caught. The Pats appear to have been caught.

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Have the Patriots definitely been caught though? Based on the information I've heard so far, it appears to be speculation. The balls were deflated some time before half, but after the ref inspected them... but who did it? Did Bill deflate them? Tom? Now, it's pretty obvious that someone in the Patriots organization did it, but there isn't indisputable evidence that I've seen yet (Maybe more specifics will come out soon)... The same can be said for Auburn. It was pretty dang obvious that Cam was paid. But could it be proven?

All that said, if the NFL decides that the Patriots were definitely responsible for the deflated balls and that in doing so they have broken NFL rules, then there should definitely be penalties. The punishment should fit the crime though. What some are suggesting is way over the top for what rule was broken.

In MLB, I think you get 10 games for tampering with the ball, which would be equivalent to about a 1 game suspension in the NFL. Now that is if a player does it and we don't know who did it with the Patriots scenario. This certainly isn't an apples to apples case, as what is good for MLB may not be good/right for the NFL, but it really isn't that freaking serious.

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Originally Posted by blacklistedbully

So do you think it was right for them to get away with it? Do you think they should not have had to pay a penalty for that? Should we just say, what-the-hell, let's just let 'em do it, since others are doing it too?

BTW, they got away with it, in part, because they didn't get definitively caught. The Pats appear to have been caught.

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Since it was first broke, it was reported draft picks and fines, so there will be punishment.