[69franx]

Nope each offense has their own set of balls, pun was and was not intended

[JT]

I see.  Crazy and insulting to the Pats players really.  Not a Patriots fan but the team should be pissed.

[erockrph]

It seems to be a big deal when Belichick and the Pats do stuff, but not for anyone else, even though every other quarterback in the league does the same thing. Haters gonna hate, I guess. Everyone's crying to keep the Pats out of the Super Bowl for this, but Ndamukong Suh gets to plea down to a slap on the wrist for something he could arguably be in jail for.

You never see that from Bill Bellichick.  He never let up on the gas.  Pete Carroll?  Let's run a fake field goal on 4th and 10.  As a long-suffering Eagles fan, I'm just happy that Chip Kelly doesn't seem to suffer from the disease of conservative play calling.

That sort of reminds me of this:

[majorvices]

Right, but then they put air back in them when the Colts had the ball?  Or the Colts used the same underinflated ball?

Some QBs like the ball better under inflated - some do not. Tom Brady has been on record saying he prefers an under inflated ball.

The big deal is this: The balls were tested by the official and found to be within regulation. Someone tampered with the balls afterward.

[bboy9000]

There is an actual rule against it. AND caught cheating once already...  The rules are printed and well understood - and no excuses. Regardless. Period. Why? Look at how much that jacka** get paid. Decisive win? Why cheat against a team you clearly can beat? Did the Colts win over Manning give him the jitters? Maybe he should have watched the game.


I think the actual question is why such a talented and dominant team needs to cheat? I despised Belichick before. This cinches it. Belichick should be suspended for a year, and no team with him as coach should be eligible for playoffs in 2015. Enough is enough. Too much money in play though...


The choke point is that I am a long lived Broncos fan. Now I am forced to cheer on the Seahawks. At least they ain't the Raiders.

If cheating forces you to not cheer for the Patriots then you shouldn't be cheering for the Broncos:

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/20/sports/sp-cheathow20

[Stevie]

The article I read stated that each team provides a dozen balls, the home team also provides a dozen backups and nine kickers balls.

[majorvices]

If cheating forces you to not cheer for the Patriots then you shouldn't be cheering for the Broncos:

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/20/sports/sp-cheathow20

Oh, it's not cheating that causes me not to route for the pats. I just hate the pats.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

regardless of what team is involved-until the NFL does more than $25k fine and loss of draft pick....this kind of thing will continue to go on. and this is at the very least a second offense for this team-hammer time.

[HoosierBrew]

The big deal is this: The balls were tested by the official and found to be within regulation. Someone tampered with the balls afterward.

+1

[klickitat jim]

I have the proper penalty. For the Super bowl,  Seattle will be using this ball


Boston will use this one

[theDarkSide]

Boston will use this one

The Boston Patriots?  Now there's a blast from the past.

I'm not defending what was done, but until there's some official word (ESPN does not equal the NFL), I'm holding judgement.  Yes, I'll be pissed if Brady or Belichick had some hand in this but everyone is pretty niave if you think this stuff doesn't go on everywhere in the NFL.  And because the Pats have been very successful, they tend to be hated and put under more scrutiny than others.  It is embarrassing as a fan and season ticket holder, but my love of the team doesn't waver.

I just wish the NFL would get off their duff and do whatever so the focus can be shifted to the actual game and the teams involved...who both earned the right to be there. 
 

[majorvices]

As Colin Cowherd said yesterday, the problem is it is on on-going problem. Yeah, "everyone does it" but Bellicheck has a tendency to thumb his nose at the NFL regularly. If the allegations are true I think the NFL is going to come down hard on Bellicheck next year.

[pete b]

I don't follow football enough to know whether or not this is something that always goes on, I suspect it is, but what a lousy time to get caught! These two weeks are all about the media manufacturing stories to fill content because nothings really going on but people want to watch/read something about the Super Bowl. I don't quite understand why people have such high expectations of integrity from sports teams and athletes, whose jobs are merely to be entertaining enough to generate billions in advertising revenue and sell us crap. I think it would be interesting if this type of reporting and this level of public interest were invested in politics and social/environmental issues that really matter. This is a damned game and this silly over-inflated (pun intended) story is on the front page (not the front of the sports section, the actual front page) of serious news sources. While people are shouting for serious consequences for a football coach who may or may not have known about some under-inflated footballs our politicians are quietly undoing the modest consequences imposed on those responsible for the Great Recession. If only as much attention was paid to that.

[bboy9000]

I think it would be interesting if this type of reporting and this level of public interest were invested in politics and social/environmental issues that really matter. This is a damned game and this silly over-inflated (pun intended) story is on the front page (not the front of the sports section, the actual front page) of serious news sources. While people are shouting for serious consequences for a football coach who may or may not have known about some under-inflated footballs our politicians are quietly undoing the modest consequences imposed on those responsible for the Great Recession. If only as much attention was paid to that.

+1000^^^

[Steve Ruch]

As a huge Colts fan, I will say that they could've played with beach balls, golf balls, volleyballs, or frisbees and gotten thumped. The Colts played like absolute S@$t from the kickoff. No sour grapes. We sucked and deserved to lose. NONETHELESS, 11 of 12 balls is damn sure no coincidence, and the fact that it wasn't a close game doesn't suddenly make this ok. It goes to the integrity of the game.

Of course it doesn't, but it takes a lot more than one thing to cause a blowout.