KiwiHawk
New member
I was considering why 11 of the 12 balls were under-inflated, considering that the 11 were grossly under-inflated. Why would one lone ball have retained its pressure?
Was it used to fool the testing process? Unlikely - that would require agents of the Patriots playing sleight-of-hand with the referees.
Then I was thinking about the fumble statistics, where the Patriots fumble far less than the average NFL team except on special teams where they are in-line with the rest of the league, with the possible answer being they are handling the opponent's ball being punted to them, so it would not be under-inflated.
Then it dawned on me, and made me a firm believer that the balls were under-inflated intentionally - one ball remained inflated so that the Patriots would have one to punt. An under-inflated ball would not travel as far when punted, which would be a disadvantage to the Patriots. Having a fully-inflated punting ball negates that disadvantage. Punters do not use the K ball - those are only for kicks.
Thar's the smoking gun, as far as I am concerned.
Was it used to fool the testing process? Unlikely - that would require agents of the Patriots playing sleight-of-hand with the referees.
Then I was thinking about the fumble statistics, where the Patriots fumble far less than the average NFL team except on special teams where they are in-line with the rest of the league, with the possible answer being they are handling the opponent's ball being punted to them, so it would not be under-inflated.
Then it dawned on me, and made me a firm believer that the balls were under-inflated intentionally - one ball remained inflated so that the Patriots would have one to punt. An under-inflated ball would not travel as far when punted, which would be a disadvantage to the Patriots. Having a fully-inflated punting ball negates that disadvantage. Punters do not use the K ball - those are only for kicks.
Thar's the smoking gun, as far as I am concerned.