2014 NFL Season Thread

[Brass]

When it comes to tires, every 10 degrees change in temperatures causes air pressure to change by 1 psi. Further evidence from Goodyear, as well. Perhaps the same standards hold true to footballs. I'm trying to find the weather reports from that night to see if there is a possible correlation.

Whatever happens, we don't know if the Patriots tampered with them. Thus, the need for the investigation. The journalists calling for Belichick's head and making up further accusations (like the guy who says Belichick is at an advantage because he can see replays via the TV broadcasts on the big screens in Patriot Place) are completely off base. It's trials by media which piss of people, then the media wonders why certain athletes treat them like crap.

[Lights Out]

Hopefully the Seahawks crush the cheaters even worse than they crushed Denver last year. I want to see a 60-0 shutout.

Hell, cancel the Pro Bowl and have a real AFC title game between the Colts and Ravens instead. The ratings would certainly be a whole lot better.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Obviously more details to be uncovered, but if Belichik is behind it, I saw a good proposed punishment in Deadspin comments: Belichik is suspended from the Super Bowl. Both teams still get to play, but the head coach -- still on probation from Spygate -- doesn't get to be with the team. That seems fair-ish.

[The_Admiral]

How do you both know and not know how "won" is spelled within the same post?

Schrodinger's Tank

[Sport]

*

Somehow Boston found another way to be the heel, which is hard to do considering how people feel about their Super Bowl opponent.

I hope the Seahawks kick the :censored: out of this Patriots team.

[BigEd76]

When it comes to tires, every 10 degrees change in temperatures causes air pressure to change by 1 psi. Further evidence from Goodyear, as well. Perhaps the same standards hold true to footballs. I'm trying to find the weather reports from that night to see if there is a possible correlation.

The temperature at the end of the game was within 5 degrees of the starting one (mid-to-upper 40s), so that didn't cause it

[Billy B]

Can we wait until all the facts come out before everyone puts an asterisk next to this Super Bowl? Nobody knows what happened to cause the balls to be underinflated yet. But the Patriots will still probably get punished more than they should for this. The Panthers got caught heating up their footballs on the sideline earlier this season and didn't get punished at all.

[LMU]

When it comes to tires, every 10 degrees change in temperatures causes air pressure to change by 1 psi. Further evidence from Goodyear, as well. Perhaps the same standards hold true to footballs. I'm trying to find the weather reports from that night to see if there is a possible correlation.

Whatever happens, we don't know if the Patriots tampered with them. Thus, the need for the investigation. The journalists calling for Belichick's head and making up further accusations (like the guy who says Belichick is at an advantage because he can see replays via the TV broadcasts on the big screens in Patriot Place) are completely off base. It's trials by media which piss of people, then the media wonders why certain athletes treat them like crap.

Here's the almanac for Foxboro on Sunday

In terms of the change, it's not a throughout the game change but a change from the climate controlled measurement before the game to what would have been experienced outside. And, assuming that the balls were measured at 70º and that the balls were filled to the low end of the allowable range, that'd explain the 2 psi drop if a similar pressure drop occurs as in tires.

[Still MIGHTY]

Lest we forget, this is how Brady showed up to the game on Sunday:

Nobody wearing a trenchcoat like that good intentions.

[dbadefense1990]

What're Giselle's thoughts on Tom's deflated balls?

With the three kids he already has, Tom's deflated balls has lost its tread over the last decade or so, with all the braking, skid marks and swerving he's done in that time span.

[Lights Out]

Can we wait until all the facts come out before everyone puts an asterisk next to this Super Bowl? Nobody knows what happened to cause the balls to be underinflated yet. But the Patriots will still probably get punished more than they should for this. The Panthers got caught heating up their footballs on the sideline earlier this season and didn't get punished at all.

Tough crap. The Patriots brought the increased scrutiny on themselves by cheating and repeatedly pushing the limits of the rules. If they don't like it, they shouldn't have cheated in the first place.

I would not be surprised if the league makes the refs the fall guy and finds a way to avoid giving the Patriots a serious punishment, though. We all know how "great" Goodell has been at handling crises, after all.

[waltere]

Surely the easiest answer going forward, regardless of whatever it turns out the Patriots may or may not have been up to, is to leave control of the balls to a neutral party like the officials in future, that as good as removes any potential for controversy.

[FiddySicks]

I honestly don't think the football thing is that big of a deal, and it's not like the Colts even hung with the Pats at all. But does it even surprise me that Bellicheck is wrapped up in yet ANOTHER controversary where he's potentially bent or broken the rules to swing things in his favor? Nope. Not at all. It's pretty much a case of it being no surprise that this is even an issue, because this isn't the first time he's done something like that. You reap what you sew.

[Brass]

Anybody know if the Colts balls were tested, too?

[Hat Boy]

As a Patriots fan, I am tired of the team's shenanigans. When did they turn into the 1970s Raiders? Just stop it and play football

Additionally, other teams (and their fans) need to stop with their sanctimonious condemnation. EVERY team has some sort of "gamesmanship" going on in their past or present that skirts the rules. Everybody just stop it and play football.

[Brass]

As a Patriots fan, I am tired of the team's shenanigans. When did they turn into the 1970s Raiders? Just stop it and play football

Additionally, other teams (and their fans) need to stop with their sanctimonious condemnation. EVERY team has some sort of "gamesmanship" going on in their past or present that skirts the rules. Everybody just stop it and play football.

We don't know if the Patriots are at fault. That is why there is an investigation.

This is an excerpt from It's Only a Game by Terry Bradshaw.

Most fans don’t know it, but before the game we would doctor the footballs that would be used. Until the season of 2000 it was up to the home team to provide twenty-four game balls to the officials for each game. A brand-new NFL football straight from the factory is not easy to throw or catch. It’s rock hard and very slippery. So in the privacy of the locker room before the game, players would take the footballs and rub them and scrub them to remove the glaze, or deflate them, then pump them up with air real big to stretch the leather. On some teams the kickers would put them through a cycle in the dryer. Some teams did this, but naturally not the Steelers, because we were righteous folk who would never stretch the rules, and when these other teams—not the Steelers—were finished, they would put them back in the plastic wrapping and right back in the box. Some teams—who were not the Steelers—after the officials had checked and approved the game balls, would let out a couple of pound of air to make it easier for the quarterback to grip it. A little less air would make the ball spongier. It was what might be called a perceived advantage-both teams played with the same ball.

So, looks like they should be an asterisk next to the Steelers championship wins. We should probably put an asterisk next to the Buccaneers championship, too. As QB Brad Johnson paid someone off to get the balls right to his liking.

At the Super Bowl, the NFL had 100 footballs. They were new, slick and supposedly under the league's watchful eye. But not leaving anything to chance, Johnson made sure the balls were scuffed and ready well before the Dixie Chicks sang the national anthem. "I paid some guys off to get the balls right," Johnson now admits. "I went and got all 100 footballs, and they took care of all of them." How much did it cost Johnson? "Seventy-five hundred (dollars)," he said. "They took care of them."

Now, I'm not trying to justify that whatever the Patriots allegedly did was right. All I'm pointing out is the absurd claim that they shouldn't be allowed to play in the Super Bowl or have an "asterisk" next to their 2014 accomplishments. That's absolutely silly. Why not put asterisks next to every team that won an MLB title from the mid-1980s to the late-2000s. After all, somebody must have been on steroids on all those teams.

[fouhy12]

If these allegations turn out to be true and the Pats did this on purpose to gain a competitive edge, then I am extremely disappointed in the team. It was completely unnecessary.

I saw some calculations earlier on the temperature change needed to deflate balls from 12.5 to 10.5 psi naturally, assuming that they were at 12.5 psi in a 72 degree room, and it looks like the temperature would need to have been below zero. We can most likely rule out natural causes for this one.

However, there are a couple things that aren't adding up for me. There are two possible ways that the balls could have been deflated on purpose; they were either deflated before the game, or during the game. If they were deflated before gametime, how did the refs not notice when checking them? If it happened during the game, then there must be video evidence because of the sheer number of cameras in the stadium. Also, I saw a report that the balls were discovered and measured during halftime, and were presumably replaced with properly pressurized balls. This is surprising because the Patriots were a lot better in the second half, and Brady's lone interception was in the first half.

Lastly, it is extremely frustrating to see the double-standard of scandals involving the Patriots. Both the Panthers and Packers admitted doing similar things earlier in the season, but no one batted an eye until the Patriots did it. While they may have earned the higher scrutiny through Spygate, it doesn't make it any less frustrating to watch.

[Billy B]

Can we wait until all the facts come out before everyone puts an asterisk next to this Super Bowl? Nobody knows what happened to cause the balls to be underinflated yet. But the Patriots will still probably get punished more than they should for this. The Panthers got caught heating up their footballs on the sideline earlier this season and didn't get punished at all.

Tough crap. The Patriots brought the increased scrutiny on themselves by cheating and repeatedly pushing the limits of the rules. If they don't like it, they shouldn't have cheated in the first place.

I would not be surprised if the league makes the refs the fall guy and finds a way to avoid giving the Patriots a serious punishment, though. We all know how "great" Goodell has been at handling crises, after all.

Why should the Patriots be seriously punished? The Panthers were caught on video heating up footballs on the sideline and weren't punished for it? We don't know at all if the Patriots even cheated.

It's very possible that the balls the Patriots gave the refs to be tested were inflated right at (or even slightly below) the lower acceptable limit and the refs gave the okay because it was fine. Then these balls lost air because of the temperature change from the room they were tested in to the field. They're also going to lose air just from being used.

Aaron Rodgers has said he gives overinflated balls to the refs before the game. Sometimes they take air out and sometimes they don't care and he gets away with it. Pushing the limits with footballs is just something that teams do.

And the refs should absolutely take some of the blame. The ref okays the balls pregame and handles the ball every play.

[Lights Out]

They should be seriously punished because they're repeat offenders and because a lost draft pick and a fine clearly isn't enough to make them stop flouting the rules of the league.

[CS85]

They'll get fined and lose a draft pick. The cycle continues.