Indeed.
And also classic Patriots if, as I understand it correctly, they somehow so vigorously rubbed the balls just before taking them to the refs locker room before the game that they temporarily had an extra psi of pressure before they deflated out on the field to reach “equilibrium” again. They also asked the refs to inflate the balls to the 12.5 minimum. That means they were able to essentially double the effect of taking the balls out in cold air, dropping 2 psi instead of one, and getting the balls effectively 2 psi under the mandated minimum.
All while following the letter of the law on ball preparation.
How many times during the game did the refs handle the balls and it wasn’t until late in the game that they noticed a ball was under inflated?
This whole thing is BS.