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The only occasion when the ball in play was conspicuously highlighted was at the start of the third quarter. After the kickoff, the ball was spotted and play was halted for a period without explanation. Just before the first play from scrimmage was to be run, the Patriots ball boy stepped onto the field and underhanded a ball to head referee Walt Anderson, who spotted it and play began. That ball was out of play after the first play of the drive. Former NFL referee Mike Carey theorized that a kicking ball (or “K-Ball”) from the kickoff had been spotted and that the holdup was so that a regular offensive ball could be put into the game. Balls used on scrimmage plays are allowed to be broken in by each team (but are inspected after being broken in). Kicking balls are kept separate and are not broken in by either team. Perhaps that sequence caught the attention of Colts officials. One other occurrence of interest came later in the third. After Nate Solder caught a touchdown pass on a tackle eligible play, he dropped the ball and it skittered around the turf as the Patriots celebrated. Eventually an official picked it up near the sideline. Brady came over and asked the official for the ball. The TV camera cut away at that point. It has been reported, however (and I looked but I couldn’t find it in the blizzard of stories out there) that an NFL official and a Patriots equipment man argued over the ball on the sideline with the official wanting to confiscate the ball and the equipment man wanting to hold onto it. That too, if the Col