January 22nd: Deflated Egos

Sunday featured one of the most exciting, engaging NFL games in recent memory. Waking up Monday morning, most expected to hear discussion on the Packers’ epic overtime loss to the Seahawks, expected to hear hours and hours of commentary about the defending champs doing everything it took to win, expected to hear a shower of praise for a defense that kept their team in the game, even when all looked lost.

Instead, news quickly shifted to Sunday’s OTHER game, one that everyone expected to get ugly and did, quickly. After a 45-7 drubbing of the Colts, the Patriots came under fire for an NFL investigation, questioning whether or not the footballs used by the Patriots offense met regulatory standards. After a few days of investigation, it was discovered that 11 of the 12 game balls were deflated to up to 2 Pounds per Square Inch (PSI) under regulation.

Now, it was easy for “haters” to immediately begin calling out the cheating Patriots, crying for anything and everything: a fine, a rematch, a forfeit. Most, though, had never heard enough about the PSI of a football to make an educated argument as to the context of it.

Here are some of the details that are important to keep in mind:

• The standard PSI of a game-used NFL football are between 12.5 and 13.5 PSI. These balls are evaluated 2 hours before the start of the game, approved by the referees, and then given to the quarterbacks for use during warm-ups.
• PSI can fluctuate during a game. Air pressure generally goes down in cold weather environments, which a game in New England one would expect to be very cold.
• An under-inflated football is generally easier to throw, especially in cold or wet conditions, because it is easier to grip.
• The PSI is not re-evaluated during the game. This means that, when they were under investigation by the league, the balls had not only been out in the cold, but the passage of time could have an impact on the PSI.
• The Colts had 12 offensive balls of their own, and none of them violated the league’s regulations.

Overall, there are plenty of questions, many either too complicated or too long since passed to get a real understanding. The Patriots could have had balls at the low end of regulation, and thus dropped below protocol only after weather and time impact. The Colts could have preferred more inflated game balls, and thus remained above standards longer. The balls, through the investigative process, could have lost pressure from repeated evaluation, causing an inaccurate reading. From any angle, there are simply too many questions to lead to any real punishment.

In his statement to the media, Patriots Head Coach BIll Belichick gave a fairly detailed description of his involvement (which is next to none), and the information he has on the matter (also nearly none). He repeatedly answered questions by simply announcing that he had explained everything he knew. For all we can determine, he truly wasn’t involved in any form of tampering.

This is, of course, not the first time the Patriots have come under fire under cheating allegations. The 2007 accusations and ultimate fines for video recording Jets game and practice signal calling left an enormous shadow over the team that has had the most substantial claim at dynasty status over the past 15 years in football. Similar accusations arose on two other occasions, including for videotaping Rams practices in lead-up to Super Bowl XXXVI.

In any case, the Patriots would be well-suited to let their play on the field do their talking for them. Some argue that, with a score of 45-7, things were clearly way too far out of hand for the ball factors to have impacted the bottom line. That doesn’t really matter, though, as an unfair advantage would drastically change even the smallest details of a game. Even for a team that may not have broken the rules, too many allegations generally means that something fishy is happening.

As the Patriots prepare for their showdown with the Seahawks on February 1st in Arizona, there will be swirling accusations, questions, and doubts as to just what this team is made of. While these questions are valid, there is required a certain dose of curiosity, so that fans will ultimately come to an accurate understanding of not only WHAT happened, but how and why it impacted the game.