American NFL Football (36 Viewers)

[Enron]

I personally think its being blown out of proportion. What about Rodgers over inflating his balls?

And I hate the Pats btw

Does Rodgers over inflate balls? I thought he just says he prefers them that way due to his throwing grip and hand size, as point about how the air in a ball can be an advantage to a QB.

Anyway's we'll just have to see what happens. If anything the NFL should just change the rule to be that the game balls are all provided by the referees. That seems a simple enough solution.

 

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@acmilan

We're gonna be fine. This isn't ISIS. No one's dying.

 

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What a thing to say

 

[Post Ironic]

Jesus. That's brutal.

 

[Seven]

It's like bribing a referee to make sure that you win, but then you go out and dominate the match anyways, so the referee doesn't actually have to help your team. You still bribed the referee. You hedged your bet. And that's exactly what the Patriots did against the Colts. They were clearly the better team, but as they say "Any Given Sunday", so the Pats made sure that even if it was a Sunday where they had an off-game, they would have whatever advantage possible. They cheated. Plain and simple.

It's not the same. When you bribe a referee he favours one team. If you deflate a ball, both teams play with a deflated ball. The whole point of cheating is that you gain a distinct advantage. Here you still have a level playing field.

You could argue one team knows how to deal with a deflated ball better than the other, but it's a tough case to make.

 

[Salvo]

No they don't. Each team has their own balls.

 

[Seven]

No they don't. Each team has their own balls.

The ball doesn't change during a play, does it? My point is that a deflated ball offers advantages and downsides. I think it would be hard to call it cheating. That sounds like Barcelona bitching about the grass being too long.

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I guess that I just don't see it as cheating, because the advantage you might gain is so small and so uncertain.

 

[Post Ironic]

The ball doesn't change during a play, does it? My point is that a deflated ball offers advantages and downsides. I think it would be hard to call it cheating. That sounds like Barcelona bitching about the grass being too long.

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I guess that I just don't see it as cheating, because the advantage you might gain is so small and so uncertain.

Not the same as in Futbol.

In American football each offense supplies their own balls. A deflated ball is easier to grip for the QB an easier to catch for the receivers. When it's cold and wet, a hard ball is brutal to play with. That's why turnovers go up so dramatically for a lot of QBs in cold weather games.

It's actually a significant advantage to have a ball deflated by 16%

 

[Seven]

Not the same as in Futbol.

In American football each offense supplies their own balls. A deflated ball is easier to grip for the QB an easier to catch for the receivers. When it's cold and wet, a hard ball is brutal to play with. That's why turnovers go up so dramatically for a lot of QBs in cold weather games.

It's actually a significant advantage to have a ball deflated by 16%

I understand that, but couldn't you also say that it makes it harder to throw the ball long range?

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Also, what I don't understand: are these balls not checked before the game?

 

[Post Ironic]

I understand that, but couldn't you also say that it makes it harder to throw the ball long range?

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Also, what I don't understand: are these balls not checked before the game?

Checked 2 hours prior to the game. It would be very easy for someone to deflate balls on the sideline, seeing as teams wrap them in towels much of the time to stop them from being too slippery and cold when the offense gets back on the field. The argument is, that after the refs returned the balls to the Pats, somehow 11/12 balls were found to be 2 PSI (16%) lower than NFL rules at halftime. As opposed to the Colts balls which were still fully inflated. Assuming the reports coming out are correct.

Most teams don't throw the long ball much in those conditions. And the Pats offense specifically is mostly short passing, and crossing routes. A slightly deflated ball is perfect for that, as it is easier to catch a ball coming in at high speed if it is slightly deflated, and it's easier to grip and throw with accuracy for those short passes.

The biggest question is, why on earth would they knowingly break the rules, and alter the inflation of the ball if it wasn't desired by Tom Brady? Clearly they wouldn't, and clearly they thought it would provide an advantage. Did it, in this specific game? Not enough to matter. They crushed the Colts. But what if they did it against the Ravens the previous week? A 4 point game. That could have been the difference between receivers dropping a couple more passes, or Brady missing a couple more throws.

 

[GordoDeCentral]

this hating on the pats is ridic, everybody fucks with the balls

 

[Seven]

The biggest question is, why on earth would they knowingly break the rules, and alter the inflation of the ball if it wasn't desired by Tom Brady? Clearly they wouldn't, and clearly they thought it would provide an advantage. Did it, in this specific game? Not enough to matter. They crushed the Colts. But what if they did it against the Ravens the previous week? A 4 point game. That could have been the difference between receivers dropping a couple more passes, or Brady missing a couple more throws.

this hating on the pats is ridic, everybody fucks with the balls

I wonder if you can ever be sure that you really do have an advantage if the ball is deflated.

But for argument's sake let's assume you can. I suppose the question than becomes whether or not this was done willingly. The amount of deflated balls would play a role in that. I suppose that if it was verified that the majority of balls were deflated, it should be fairly easy to reach the conclusion that the team (tried to) cheat(ed).

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Also, wouldn't it be easier to let the NFL provide the balls? Assuming that it can make such a vast difference.

 

[Post Ironic]

This wouldn't be an issue at all, if the referees had an assistant or two in charge of all the footballs. Keep them out of the hands of the teams, just like they do with the kicking game balls, and just like they do with all balls at the SB. Simple.

 

[ALC]

this hating on the pats is ridic, everybody fucks with the balls

I hate the Pats and encourage everyone else to do so but I agree that this is getting blown out of proportion.

 

[GordoDeCentral]

I hate the Pats and encourage everyone else to do so but I agree that this is getting blown out of proportion.

nice pun

 

[Seven]

This wouldn't be an issue at all, if the referees had an assistant or two in charge of all the footballs. Keep them out of the hands of the teams, just like they do with the kicking game balls, and just like they do with all balls at the SB. Simple.

Seems so easy to fix. Why keep the controversy then?

 

[Enron]

Seems so easy to fix. Why keep the controversy then?

The NFL is run by idiots.

 

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this hating on the pats is ridic, everybody fucks with the balls

It's not the scandal in itself that's the problem, it's disgusting fans like acmilan. Look at how smug he is. He's not for a minute interested in finding out if the Patriots cheated. Instead he's looking for the narrative that fits him the best. If Tom Brady hit a kid in the head with a shovel, I'm sure he would blame the kid for not dodging. That's the kind of human acmilan is.