Section15Box113 said:
If they checked the balls 5 minutes before the game, did they do so indoors? Or did they bring a gauge outside? If outside, how long had the balls been outside at that point? Presumably not long enough to cool much. And were the balls at 13 or 12.5 when tested?
So are we left with the ballboy secretly deflating behind the bench with cameras all around - not to mention however many fans looking right at said bench?
If this happened, someone saw it.
Can we cut the weather crap? Far too much time has been spent on it here and - regardless of whether or not the temperature could have affected the ball - it's probably safe to say it wasn't the reason the balls were deflated.
Tom likes them softer. Coaches and players around the league acknowledge this happens all the time. Colts balls were fine, Pats werent.
The Pats deflated the balls. Now the league has to decide the approach. The right/fair thing to do is to levy a fine against the team, acknowledge that many teams/players are doing this and that this fine is a warning to the NFL, and going forward punishment will be stronger.
Unfortunately, Goodell is a ham fisted buffoon and he'd rather act decisively than act correctly. He'll levy a fine and maybe a pick, dance around the topic leading people to assume the Pats are the only team to do this, and than hide behind the shield while the Pats twist in the wind.
We've seen this movie before. The ending sucks.