Following last weekend’s NFL Conference Championship games, which set the stage for a February 1st Super Bowl clash between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, there was plenty of ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ fodder to go around. However, it seemed like the most savory storyline of all was Bill Belichick and the Patriots finding themselves embroiled in yet another controversy: Deflategate 2015.
After New England put a 45-7 drubbing on the Indianapolis Colts to advance to the big game, rumors began swirling that the Colts had filed a complaint to the NFL League Offices over concerns that the Patriots used underinflated footballs throughout Sunday’s AFC Championship game.
Initial suspicions arose after Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, a nine-year NFL veteran playing in his first conference title game, intercepted Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the red zone and handed his underinflated trophy to the team’s equipment manager after the play for safekeeping. It was at this time that the Colts’ equipment manager noticed the ball had been tampered with and immediately alerted game officials of a possible infraction.
This is not the first time Bill Belichick’s Patriots have been caught trying to pull a fast one: Belichick was also head coach in 2007 when it was discovered that New England had covertly videotaped the play-calling signals of opponents, otherwise known as the notorious ‘Spygate’ scandal.
It was that same 2007 season in which the Patriots accrued the first 16-0 regular season record in NFL history before eventually losing to the New York Giants in Superbowl XLII. You might remember it as the nail-biter turned instant classic, trademarked by David Tyree’s heroic helmet catch which kept New York’s offense on the field and allowed them to score the game-winning touchdown.
The aptly named Deflategate is somewhat different from its predecessor due to the nature of Sunday’s crime. While stealing signals gives the offending team an indisputable advantage over their opponent, the potential impact of using underinflated footballs during a game varies depending on who you ask. The purpose of doctoring a football in such a way is to make it easier to grip when throwing or catching passes, a feature that probably came in handy during the torrential downpour that persisted throughout Sunday’s game. Yet considering the lopsided 45-7 outcome, New England could have used a greasy bowling ball in place of their deflated pigskins and would still be headed to Arizona to face the Seahawks.
All else aside, what’s not up for debate is the Patriots being found guilty as charged, with multiple reports stating that 11 of the 12 game balls used by the Patriots were in fact ‘significantly’ underinflated. According to The Boston Globe, those 11 footballs were discovered to be about two pounds per square inch below the NFL mandated 13.5 PSI for game balls. The NFL hasn’t yet announced what the punishment for Deflategate will be, but as repeat offenders the Patriots should anticipate a fairly severe penalty.
Although I spent my playing days in the trenches and rarely ever touched the ball, especially not an official NFL game ball, I’ve been around the game long enough to confidently say this Deflategate funny business wasn’t a catalyst in deciding the final outcome. The Patriots may not have hung 40-plus points on Indianapolis without the doctored footballs, but the balls used to score those points are irrelevant in relation to the Colts scoring a paltry seven points of their own. In the NFL both teams bring their own set of 12 balls for every game; therefore the Colts only have themselves to blame for their 209 yards of total offense and one score. New England outplayed their opponents in every aspect of the game, and did so in convincing fashion.
