Are you ready for some NFL Football? 2014 Edition.

[Slice of Life]

Cheaters gonna cheat... People wonder why they have so many "haters". Go Seahawks.

[dsc123]

Every other sport suspends people caught cheating. Best comparison is Michael Pineda getting suspended for doctoring the ball to get a better grip in cold weather early last season. 10 game suspension. In a league where marshawn Lynch is told he won't be allowed on the field witb with gold shoes and is filed hundreds of thousands of dollars for not speaking to the media, don't they have to suspend belicheck for one game? There's got to be a 21 point swing in the betting line if Brady and Belicheat are suspended. No way the game balls are altered without the QB's knowledge.

[meenman]

A one game suspension is as much of a joke as a baseball manager being tossed from the game. To think they are not still running things is naive. There needs to be an escalation of punishment for repeat offenders as there is for PED users in baseball. Goodell should also be fired for allowing this blatant disregard of the rules to continue. Not sure what is worse, the act of cheating or cheating when there was no need to.

[saevel25]

A one game suspension is as much of a joke as a baseball manager being tossed from the game. To think they are not still running things is naive. There needs to be an escalation of punishment for repeat offenders as there is for PED users in baseball.

Not really, the NFL doesn't play that many games compared to other sports. Which means one game is much more important in the NFL than in any other sport that has more games.

If you look at just how many more games other sports play, one game in the NFL is equivalent to 10 MLB games and 5 games in the NBA.

There's got to be a 21 point swing in the betting line if Brady and Belicheat are suspended. No way the game balls are altered without the QB's knowledge.

No way Brady is going to get suspended. There is much more credibility that Belichek would be involved over Brady. Usually the head coach gets hit with these sorts of things over the player. Unless someone actually has evidence saying Brady told the equipment guy to deflate the balls. Then I think the hammer falls on Belichek on this one if a hammer falls at all. I doubt it will. I think the most the NFL would do is fine the patriots.

[CarlSpackler]

Cheaters gonna cheat...

People wonder why they have so many "haters".

Go Seahawks.

I am not rooting for Seattle. I've come to believe that I am the 13th man. Any team a root for loses.

[Gunther]

Man, Goodell has had a rough year. What does he do now? Seems a no-win situation. I think the most stunning but probably the fairest outcome would be to DQ the Pats and allow Indy to play. That would be tough logistically for Indy and of course, would result in a terrible SB, more than likely. Whew, wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

[dsc123]

With everything we know about how particular quarterbacks are about the ball, and that they routinely tell the equipment people to prepare it in a certain way, do you really think someone did this without asking Brady? I'm sure nobody will point the finger at him, and I agree that Belicheats history is a factor, but this has bradys fingerprints all over it.

[Abu3baid]

With everything we know about how particular quarterbacks are about the ball, and that they routinely tell the equipment people to prepare it in a certain way, do you really think someone did this without asking Brady? I'm sure nobody will point the finger at him, and I agree that Belicheats history is a factor, but this has bradys fingerprints all over it.

It is understandable that people are upset about this, but in the end there is only one group of people to blame here.. The Refs and the ball boys..

From my understanding the Ball Boys are under the control of the NFL and not the NEP

So, Brady tells them to do this, and they do.. then what??  It is still the Refs job to ensure compliance isn't it?

[CarlSpackler]

Man, Goodell has had a rough year. What does he do now? Seems a no-win situation.

I think the most stunning but probably the fairest outcome would be to DQ the Pats and allow Indy to play. That would be tough logistically for Indy and of course, would result in a terrible SB, more than likely.

Whew, wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

I don't think the Pats using regular balls would have swayed that game. Indy totally laid an egg.

I think going forward, the NFL has to provide all the game balls, not the individual teams.

[dsc123]

It is understandable that people are upset about this, but in the end there is only one group of people to blame here.. The Refs and the ball boys..  From my understanding the Ball Boys are under the control of the NFL and not the NEP  So, Brady tells them to do this, and they do.. then what??  It is still the Refs job to ensure compliance isn't it?

Nope. The refs test the balls them give them back to a team employee to hold for the rest of the game. And yes, it's up to the refs to make sure it's in compliance. That's why they test it before the game. That's why they took a ball out of play during the game. That's why they tested them after the game. That's why the NFL investigated. And that's how we know this happened.

[saevel25]

Man, Goodell has had a rough year. What does he do now? Seems a no-win situation.

I think the most stunning but probably the fairest outcome would be to DQ the Pats and allow Indy to play. That would be tough logistically for Indy and of course, would result in a terrible SB, more than likely.

Whew, wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

If they did that they would need to push back the game a week to allow Indy the right to scout out Seattle and prepare. Since Seattle didn't prepare for Indy they would get the same amount of time. That isn't going to happen because of all the money spent on the Superbowl. To many contracts with outside entities that have a vested interest in the game for that to happen.

I would agree a DQ would be ok if breaking that rule was actually a substantial benefit to the Patriots. No one has yet proven that 2 PSI is actually a substantial benefit. Is it worth 38 point drumming? I don't think it was.

Brady threw for 65.7% and only 220 yards. Brady has thrown for over 65% six times this year, not including that game versus Indy. It isn't like he suddenly had a massive spike in production. Brady threw for only a 6.5 yards per attempt. That was nearly a yard behind his average. He complete 1 pass longer than 20 yards all game. NEP used the short and middle passing game with a very dominant run game to just control the game from start to finish. Basically Brady was throwing high completion percentage passes all game long. Indy wasn't doing anything to make things tough for Brady.

Heck the NEP rushed 40 times for a 4.4 average, I doubt the pressure in the football helps that. The main issue is the NEP ran over Indy and held onto the ball for 37 minutes, limiting the offensive time of Indy.

I could see a bigger argument made if Brady threw for 500 yards. In the end Indy hat 3 turnovers to NEP 1 turnover and could not stop NEP's rushing game and short passing game.

[meenman]

The final score is irrelevant. Correct, the cheatriots would have won with a normal ball, however, once again they don't care about the rules. A 25k fine and loss of a draft pick is all that will happen, encouraging belicheat to continue his ways.

[Gunther]

The final score is irrelevant. Correct, the cheatriots would have won with a normal ball, however, once again they don't care about the rules. A 25k fine and loss of a draft pick is all that will happen, encouraging belicheat to continue his ways.

Yes, agreed, it's about intent. I think Lance probably would have won a few Tours de France had he not juiced but he did and because he did, his wins have been vacated and whomever came in 2nd have been given the wins. Leaves a bad taste in one's mouth to be sure but I do believe the Pats should be DQ'd; I also recognize that won't happen.

[dsc123]

If they did that they would need to push back the game a week to allow Indy the right to scout out Seattle and prepare. Since Seattle didn't prepare for Indy they would get the same amount of time. That isn't going to happen because of all the money spent on the Superbowl. To many contracts with outside entities that have a vested interest in the game for that to happen.

I would agree a DQ would be ok if breaking that rule was actually a substantial benefit to the Patriots. No one has yet proven that 2 PSI is actually a substantial benefit. Is it worth 38 point drumming? I don't think it was.

Brady threw for 65.7% and only 220 yards. Brady has thrown for over 65% six times this year, not including that game versus Indy. It isn't like he suddenly had a massive spike in production. Brady threw for only a 6.5 yards per attempt. That was nearly a yard behind his average. He complete 1 pass longer than 20 yards all game. NEP used the short and middle passing game with a very dominant run game to just control the game from start to finish. Basically Brady was throwing high completion percentage passes all game long. Indy wasn't doing anything to make things tough for Brady.

Heck the NEP rushed 40 times for a 4.4 average, I doubt the pressure in the football helps that. The main issue is the NEP ran over Indy and held onto the ball for 37 minutes, limiting the offensive time of Indy.

I could see a bigger argument made if Brady threw for 500 yards. In the end Indy hat 3 turnovers to NEP 1 turnover and could not stop NEP's rushing game and short passing game.

Everyone says its a significant benefit.  Why else would they do it?  Mort said it this morning on Mike and Mike.  Danny Kanell tweeted that anyone who says it doesn't make a difference doesn't know what they're talking about.  Steve Young said it.  Aaron Rodgers said it (read what he said, not what the pats fans say he said).  Nobody but Pats fans say it doesn't help.

The pats probably would have won anyway, but that doesn't mean they should be penalized.  I get the idea that people look for whatever advantage you can, but the risk is that if you get caught, you get punished.  That's the risk.

And yes, the pats killed the Colts.  But what if one or two third down throws slipped from Brady's hand and were intercepted?  Would they have run the ball as effectively if Brady couldn't  throw effectively?  They probably would have won anyway.  But we don't know, because they cheated.

[phan52]

The final score is irrelevant. Correct, the cheatriots would have won with a normal ball, however, once again they don't care about the rules.

A 25k fine and loss of a draft pick is all that will happen, encouraging belicheat to continue his ways.

It is obviously speculation, but is it out of order to think that they did this in the Baltimore game, which was a much closer game? I am sure deflated footballs were easier to handle on really cold days as weel as in the rain.

Suspend Belicheat for the Super Bowl. Not that it would stop him from cheating. It's in his blood.

[saevel25]

Yes, agreed, it's about intent. I think Lance probably would have won a few Tours de France had he not juiced but he did and because he did, his wins have been vacated and whomever came in 2nd have been given the wins. Leaves a bad taste in one's mouth to be sure but I do believe the Pats should be DQ'd; I also recognize that won't happen.

Again I think the logistics are too complicated to DQ them. I do think the NFL should reevaluate how the equipment situation is handled. Really they should just hire a crew that handles the footballs from start to finish. The only aspect that the teams have is to decide which 12 get used during the game. Besides that the teams do not touch the footballs except on the football field.

Everyone says its a significant benefit.  Why else would they do it?  Mort said it this morning on Mike and Mike.

Are they just saying it because they think it is or because they know it is? Has anyone actually studied it? Does it make the ball easier to throw, and if so by how much? Does it make it easier to catch, and if so by how much?

These are the things I would like to know before going off the deep end proclaiming NEP should be DQ'd or docked draft picks. Given I think they should be punished harshly because their history of more so than the actual act of deflating the balls. That is different than looking at the severity of deflating a football.

I am just interested in knowing exactly how much of an advantage, lets say a 2 PSI reduction in pressure gives a team.

[dsc123]

It's not a scientific analysis. It's players who have experience using balls in different conditions.

[saevel25]

It's not a scientific analysis. It's players who have experience using balls in different conditions.

If we haven't learned anything, feel isn't real. It could possibly just be a mental thing than a real substantial advantage.