Yes. This is a team that was all but dead and buried in October and miraculously turned it around on a dime. In the playoffs, they beat the Ravens with a single play at the end of the game, and won the superbowl in a final drive. Without form fitting the ball so their QB can handle it easier and so receivers can catch it easier and running backs can hold on to it easier without fumbling, I dare say that likely makes the different in two narrow wins.
The Patriots clearly do more than push the limits on rules...they plan and orchestrate clear violations to get an advantage. This has more impact on the game than the Saint’s head hunting rules did that led to an all out loss of a year. That should be the ceiling for punishment, with a floor being whatever Atlanta’s punishment for noise, plus suspensions. The statements by Godell about the Saints punishments - that ignorance is not an excuse must hold true, or the Saints organization should be up in arms. I am not a fan of any of the teams mentioned, but the coordinated organizational policy to sneak balls away after the refs measure them to doctor them is a really, really shady activity. It’s clearly not just one time, either, based on the pre-game warnings by the Colts and then getting caught red-handed in a playoff game. Repeated, purposeful cheating of the rules with the ball used on every offensive play is no joke. Dismissing this saying it’s a-ok to break every rule in the game and decieve the umps and the refs.
Spoken like a true loser.