Seems funny that so many can supposedly explain how this could have happened naturally. But arguably one of the greatest coaches in nfl history claims he had no idea how this could have happened. He could have easily said that nature causes this to happen all the time. It would be a much more effective way to try to get off the hook. He gets paid millions to live breath and sleep football. He’s been involved at the highest level for 25-30 years. Yet he’s obviously dumber than many here.
He mentioned none of these explanations. He explained nothing about how this is normal. He said he had no idea.
Neither did one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. They both played dumb.
The Pats should hire more physicists at least for their PR department.
This actually plays into my tongue-in-cheek conspiracy theory.
Here’s a much more likely scenario...
Belichick and Brady know exactly what they are doing. I am sure that Bill knows exactly what the inflation limits are and the rules for handling the balls prior and during games. They also understand the physics and, even if they don’t, they know that balls lose pressure in situations where there is a substantial temperature difference between the testing conditions and game conditions. He and Brady know that Brady likes a “soft” ball as Brady himself admitted. Brady further detailed his part in the ball selection process and, as QB, I am sure that he has made his preference for 12.5 psi balls clear to the equipment guys every summer for the past 15 years.
I understand from some of my reading tonight, including the preliminary NFL report, that QB’s frequently test the limits of inflation. The NFL has quietly allowed deviations from the rule for years, in the case of under and overinflated balls - just as long as the deviations are not too flagrant. So Belichick knows that to expose him, the NFL risks exposure of their own waiving of their own rules - and that documentation exists to back their threat if the NFL comes down on them. Belichick and Kraft were and are perfectly willing to cough up the maximum $25,000 fine to have that little edge in the championship game - in this case, game balls that are more comfortable for their HOF QB. The NFL must stand by their claim that all the balls met the legal requirements at game time, even if the Patriots’ footballs were a little softer than league standards. The difference became more pronounced as the game conditions cooled - and softened - the game balls, to the Patriots’ advantage.
The plot gets really sticky when the chain of testimony reveals that the Colts linebacker who intercepted the suspicious ball now claims that he never said a word to anyone about the “soft” football and that he was irritated that he had been dragged into the middle of a controversy that he had no - and as he himself now says - NO part in.
So the question now turns to who ratted out the Pats? Robert Irsay? Ravens coach Harbaugh? Who knows, but once the Colts’ linebacker said that he had no part in the plot, inquiring minds will ask who did?
With the offending balls retreived at halftime and the finger pointed at the Patriots, the refs are instructed to inflate all the balls to NFL requirements in an effort to correct whatever errors they originally made in allowing slightly softer footballs into the game in the first place. Brady takes over in the third period and immediately goes 9 for 9 and two touchdowns on the way to a 21 point quarter with “properly” inflated footballs.
Belichick for his part is not shy about controversy and uses it to great advantage to motivate his teams. So the endgame for Belichick and Brady is to claim complete ignorance of the facts. Belichick knows nothing and couldn’t care less. Brady states in his presser that he indeed selects the 24 game balls which are turned over to the refs for verification and testing. That’s the last he sees of them prior to the actual game.
Thus, the onus of problem is shoved right back into the arms of the NFL and the refs. Belichick gets his controversy and for his part, Brady would be perfectly happy throwing bowling balls as footballs to his receivers. And the NFL is left holding the crappy end of the stick.
The problem is the NFL’s loose handling of the inflation rule, not the Pats.
Plausible...?
More likely, they understand the principles, but can’t vouch for any specific thing to have definitively been what happened. That would be just going down the rabbit hole. They don’t have the luxury of not being precisely correct. Look at the crazy already going around.