All I hear is a bunch of butt-hurt losers whining about a coupla pounds of air. Remember "it's the Indian, not the arrow", shooters? Whot a display of wailing and knashing of teeth! The whooped dog yelps and all.
"Deflated balls" is more a symptom of watching favorite teams systematically benched for the season by the current two winners "in the arena" than anything either of them needed to get there. d:^)
Giggling and donning my asbestos suit now. I don't know what gets into me!
If the ball deflation gave the Pats enough of an advantage in the first half to get a big lead, do you think that changed the game plan of the Colts at all?
Get behind, and you must resort to high risk/high reward game play in order to make up ground. Defenses start going for picks and fumbles and not tackles. Offenses go for a higher percentage passing plays, which marks it easier for the other defense to read, etc.
So, a first half only advantage could cause the second half blowout.