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Eh, yes there should be punishment for cheaters, but let's keep things in proportion here: no team had the advantage as both played with deflated balls. So invalidating the Pat's win, who were clearly the better team, would seem to be a bit excessive.
The coach that has one of the best records in football keeps getting caught cheating. Does he deserve his reputation now? He should never be enshrined at Canton, at the very least. He should be watching football at home for the rest of his life.
Does anyone really think this would have made a difference in a blowout game? Seriously??? I don't, not at all.
Nope. Look at Luck's numbers - 12 of 33 for 126 yards and 2 INTs. Indy only managed a whopping 209 yards of total offense. They ran 52 plays and could not do much of anything.
Pats fan here. Of course this stinks. Of course this puts a cloud over everything. I won't rationalize it with "cheating happens all the time". But here's how I feel as a Pats fan, assuming when the investigation is over that 11 of 12 balls were under inflated.
I'll break down the whole issue of the Patriots tied to cheating into two parts - the organization itself and the players on the field.
In 2007 the Pats were caught doing something obvious, a video camera in someone's hands. We can all assume who knew what, but I would guess it would be stupid not to at least think the coaching staff knew about it, because why else would you tape signals other than to use it in planning, which is what coaches do. I have a slightly different first take feeling on this ball issue. Who was responsible for getting the balls deflated after they were checked by officials? Why didn't the officials bring this to light since they touch every ball, other than just cycling a few balls out? If one player who made an interception called out the ball, how could the Patriots offensive players not feel the same thing? I also thought of Happy Gilmore - is it possible there was a paid plant to set up the Pats since they do win and have been caught before? And with that I am not accusing another team, but something to do with money.
I watch these games, and I feel bad for the players. At this time I honestly don't feel any of this is a full team conspiracy. The players execute on the field, and the Pats obviously looked the better team against the Colts and would have won playing with bricks. I don't think the players are aware of any of this - they go out and play. This doesn't lessen my feeling about any player.
Of course I could be wrong. There was the black sox scandal in baseball for which players were involved. But in how the game of football is played, I don't think any advantage gained is even close to something like baseball players juicing up to individually get a physical competitive advantage or scheming to win or lose a game. Some edge is there with a deflated ball, but football is so complicated that you still need to execute, putting the ball where it needs to be, opening holes for the running game, stopping the other team.
Look, once this investigation is complete, and assuming it's all true and sanctions will be levied, I expect the legacy to be tarnished, and it should be. But at this time I cannot assume that all personnel knew about this. It's the players I feel bad for, because they're the ones putting their bodies on the line on the field.
Eh, yes there should be punishment for cheaters, but let's keep things in proportion here: no team had the advantage as both played with deflated balls. So invalidating the Pat's win, who were clearly the better team, would seem to be a bit excessive.
I have to admonish you to read all the posts before making a fool of yourself. Both offenses play with 12 balls that they are allowed to scuff up or inflate/deflate within NFL guidelines.
One link I read was that one of the Colts intercepted Brady, and could tell the difference. He took the ball to the sidelines and they passed their concerns on to the NFL. That is how they found out.
Eh, yes there should be punishment for cheaters, but let's keep things in proportion here: no team had the advantage as both played with deflated balls. So invalidating the Pat's win, who were clearly the better team, would seem to be a bit excessive.
I have not gotten confirmation about this. I have read and heard on the radio that this is not the case. The Pats played with their (deflated) balls and the Colts played with theirs (non deflated) balls.
When I originally read the story, that is how I read it but then i have read several other articles and heard on the radio that only the Pats had access to these deflated balls..
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