Posted on 01/22/2015 9:42:05 PM PST by Colofornian
What is missing in the 'DeflateGate' NFL analysis?
Simple. How the Colts, once succumbing to a 14-0 deficit, had to THEN shift from running the ball 40% of the time to running it only less than 17% the rest of the first half upon falling behind by those scores.
It was, after all, "Deflady Brady's" deep pass down the left side of the field to S. Vereen (30 yards) to the Indy 17-yard line that set up the second Patriot score. One wonders what might have happened on that pass in the driving rain had the "underinflation" not been at play...or even if the Patriots would have risked tossing a deep ball if the Patriot offense was "in the know" about DeflateGate.
Up until that point in the game, the Colts had been successful on the ground versus the ninth-ranked NFL team versus the run...averaging 5 yards per carry. And one might expect even a passing-oriented team like the Colts to run at least 40% of the time given the weather conditions.
Take away "Deflady's Brady's" 30-yard late first quarter completion...
...and you likely have a 7-0 (vs. 14-0) game...
...and had that been the case, the Colts wouldn't have been passing the ball 10 out of 12 plays late in the first quarter -- into the second quarter -- in that driving rain.
A more balanced offense would have sufficed -- and could have sustained Colts' drives into making it a competitive game...at least much further into the game...
And, had the Colts only been down 10-7 heading into the second half, it wouldn't have fled its running game totally by passing it 10 of 11 plays in the third quarter.
And, for those who contend Brady did "better" with properly inflated footballs in the second half, he didn't pass on the brief 13-yard drive on New England's second-to-last score set up by an interception. So credit the defense and not the offense with that score.
And in the other second-half TD drives, "Deflady Brady" threw only one deep completed pass the entire second half (Edelman 22-yarder). Three other significant yard pass gains (Edelman, Gronkownski, and an eligible lineman scoring a TD) were on very short passes with most of the yardage coming after the catch (YAC). Beyond all that, the rest was "dunkville."
So..."Deflady Brady" doesn't now acknowledge he "felt" anything different about those first-half footballs? What? And pitchers in the Major Leagues can't tell the difference 'tween T-ball rubber balls and Major League baseballs, either?
Before every down a referee held the ball and placed it on the field. How come none of them noticed the deflation?
The final score was 45-7.
Patriots would have won even if they’d have been forced to play using basketballs inflated to 35 psi.
That the Patriots are known cheating bastards is irrelevant here.
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost...
Maybe this story is becoming overinflated! ~ Dana Perino
People say it’s a small issue. If it’s no big deal then why did they do it?
He looked like a deer in the headlights.
Who? What happens when leather gets wet?...it stretches, that alone would allow the pressure to measure lower by having the same amount of air in a larger area. Amazing how most feel that lesser inflated balls drove the outcome of the pathetic Colt performance. How is it that the PATRIOTS scored 28 points in the second half with supposedly properly inflated balls and the colts still sucked? Answer that.
Right. That’s something I’ve wanted to say since this broke. If the POTUS and Harry Reid are not going to follow the established rules, why shod anyone else. We have become the United Oligarchy of cheaters.
There is a rubber bladder in the football. The leather covers the rubber and does not hold the air. Stretching leather cannot deflate a football and colder air could not change the volume by more than a couple percent ie less than a pound. Face it, these footballs were deflated to gain an advantage.
Supposedly properly inflated.
How many other ways were they cheating.
The Patriots are cheaters and should be disqualified.
That Colts player with the interception has said he didn’t notice anything different.
And it’s a long game, if the Colts thought they were better running more, they shouldn’t have given that up back in the first period.
Dallas stomped the Colts. They had no business being in that game vs NE. balls or no balls, they were overmatched.
Can you tell me who 'they' is in your question? Then maybe I can help answer it. My money on the 'they' is that the ref's never check the game balls. The teams provide balls, and the refs never checked them.
When Brady loses this superbowl, people will talk about 'got what was coming to him' or whatever. Pete Carroll will hold up the trophy on the other side. He has done that before, then had to give the trophy back because of 'cheating'. He cost a college wins, scholarships, and probation. He left for the NFL because if he went to a different college, sanctions would have followed him. That is cheating.
When some official comes out and tells us that they didn't check the balls, then people will come out of the woodwork to say he is taking the fall for the Pats organization...because 'they' seem to be the owner, the coach, the quarterback, the whole team. A ridiculous assertion, but that is the prevailing wisdom.
Good one.
Interesting analysis.
Brady is lying....and not very convincingly.
Eric Kester, who was a ball boy for the Chicago Bears in 2003, says he can’t speculate about the controversy dubbed “Deflate-Gate,” but he remembers how the preparation worked — starting with the delivery of factory-fresh balls a few days before a game.
“We would then work with the quarterbacks to customize the balls to their liking. This involved scrubbing them with stiff horsehair brushes to rub off the leather’s slippery silicone sheen, and occasionally inflating or deflating the balls a very small amount, which I believe is legal to a degree. Quarterbacks are very particular about the way a ball feels in their hand, and we worked meticulously to match their particular preferences,” Kester said.
Two hours before kickoff, he would bring the balls to the referees’ locker room for inspection.
“I recall them having a pressure gauge in the locker room, but most often they just squeezed the balls, turned them over in their hands a few times each, and inspected the laces. I don’t recall them ever rejecting one of our balls,” he said.
“My thought process was, ‘Let’s get the balls exactly the way our quarterback wants them, and if the refs reject one or two before the game, no big deal. But there’s no harm giving them our ideal balls and hoping they make it through inspection.’”
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/super-bowl-xlix/deflate-gate-nfl-ball-boys-perspective-preparing-footballs-n290801
Deflated grapes
Allegedly the Refs were alerted to check the balls at halftime since a allegation was filed before the game. So I expect the people handling the balls were being monitored by video. When will we see the supposed ‘cheating’ on tape?
What will happen to A Rogers who bragged about inflating the ball beyond spec? Or Manning who had a 2 pg NYT article about how they doctor his balls during preseason (again outside the rule.
This boils down to the media hating BB who holds them in contempt and are looking for any reason to ‘get’ him. He is the sports version to S Palin.
They is the Patriots. It’s a team sport
So, if they hadn’t have cheated they only would have won 30-7?
That’s what confounds me about this whole thing.
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