The NFL has found that 11 New England Patriots footballs were deflated by two pounds during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The New England Patriots blew the Indianapolis Colts out in the AFC Championship Game by a final score of 45-7. That hasn’t been contested, but the Colts reportedly submitted a complaint to the NFL about deflated footballs that were being used. After an investigation, the NFL has reportedly found that 11 New England footballs were deflated by two pounds.
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While that doesn’t have too much of an impact on the outcome of the game, it is still a major concern about potential cheating by the Patriots. The NFL isn’t happy with the deflated footballs, and there is likely some type of punishment coming for New England.
All of that being said, the footballs were checked prior to the game, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, and appeared to be just fine for use. There is a chance that simply moving out into the colder weather was part of the reason that the balls deflated, but that doesn’t appear to be the most likely option at the moment.
This isn’t the first time that the Patriots have been caught cheating in a key playoff game. They were caught spying on their opponents just about 10 years ago under Bill Belichick and having another issue with potential cheating doesn’t look good for them. It is going to be very intriguing to see what the NFL decides to do about this “deflate-gate” issue.
There have been rumors flying around that the Patriots could be docked draft picks, Belichick could be suspended, as well as quite a few other options for punishment.
At this point in time, the most likely punishment is the Patriots being forced to give up draft picks. That will satisfy some fans and anger others. If this was the first time the Patriots have been caught doing something outside of the rules in a playoff game, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal, but it isn’t.
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