Deflated balls explain why fumbles to plays is off the chart

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NickTimiraos/status/558696942574657536[/tweet]

This is another example of another statistical revelation. It's having an impact just like the impact of video cameras and slow motion analysis. There is less opportunity to hide contrived advantages. More reason to laugh at myths about level playing fields.

One can CLEARLY SEE the Patriots, visually, are off the chart. There is no other team even close to being near to their rate of 187 offensive plays (passes+rushes+sacks) per fumble. The league average is 105 plays/fumble. Most teams are within 21 plays of that number.

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Link >>> [urltargetblank]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8CvSJQCEAApA9r.png[/urltargetblank]

More evidence that this is not the first instance of under inflation.

They cheat. Plain and simple.

Holy schnikes, that's pretty damning. Speaks to years of shenanigans by the Pats.

LMAO, finally a chart that the Seahawks are actually just somewhere in the middle. Didn't realize that thought until I noticed where we are at on the chart. Pretty amazing really.

This is the example the media should be talking about. All I have heard so far is how the QB likes the ball. The real story is catching the ball and not fumbling it.

RichNhansom":253gzi2c said:

LMAO, finally a chart that the Seahawks are actually just somewhere in the middle. Didn't realize that thought until I noticed where we are at on the chart. Pretty amazing really.

This is the example the media should be talking about. All I have heard so far is how the QB likes the ball. The real story is catching the ball and not fumbling it.

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I hate to crow, not really I love to crow, I said all along it was about the guys catching it. I had no idea it had that effect on not fumbling, I just figured in cold weather it would be easier to catch with cold hands.

If the Pats have been doing this no matter the weather because it means less fumbles, they are evil fricking geniuses.

The deflated ball cheating started at some point early in the 2007 season. The Pats were busted for Spygate in week 1 of 2007. It's hilarious how bad this looks.

Scottemojo":2g65dkpa said:

RichNhansom":2g65dkpa said:

LMAO, finally a chart that the Seahawks are actually just somewhere in the middle. Didn't realize that thought until I noticed where we are at on the chart. Pretty amazing really.

This is the example the media should be talking about. All I have heard so far is how the QB likes the ball. The real story is catching the ball and not fumbling it.

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I hate to crow, not really I love to crow, I said all along it was about the guys catching it. I had no idea it had that effect on not fumbling, I just figured in cold weather it would be easier to catch with cold hands.

If the Pats have been doing this no matter the weather because it means less fumbles, they are evil fricking geniuses.

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Yeah that genius part is starting to become more and more transparent. What really sucks for Pat's fans is Brady and Belichick will go down in history as cheaters. They could have survived spygate but add this to it and suddenly their entire tenure is in question. This chart could be a very damning piece of evidence in ruining their legacy.

I'm kind of curious how this chart has never been brought up before though. That evidence even without the knowledge of deflated balls should have sparked some interest from the league. That is unless you believe Billy somehow coached his team to have the best ball control hands on the planet and by a very large margin. Add in the environment of the weather conditions at their home games that would likely decrease ball security you can double that genius.

For Seahawk fans as long as we continue on our current path, it translates to the only true dynasty in the Cap era. Of course assuming we stay clean.

kearly":21fftq51 said:

Started in 2007.

Spygate occurred on week 1 of 2007.

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And they changed the rules on how team provide balls for the game between the 06 and 07 season. When the Pats mysteriously stopped fumbling very much.

Heard something on the radio, just caught the tail end of it but they were talking about how that would explain why they played poorly in their three super bowl losses.

Is the procedure different for the super bowl than other games?

Yeah, I just mentioned that in another thread. I believe the NFL produces special balls for the Super Bowl which are shared by both teams. I could be wrong, but that would seem to explain why their dominant offense disappeared in the 2008 and 2012 Super Bowls.

Scottemojo":eveymee7 said:

kearly":eveymee7 said:

Started in 2007.

Spygate occurred on week 1 of 2007.

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And they changed the rules on how team provide balls for the game between the 06 and 07 season. When the Pats mysteriously stopped fumbling very much.

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Thanks for asking

Not that I'm defending Emperor Belichick here or anything, but the fact that he benches a RB for like, years, if they cough it up may have a bit of an impact, too.

RolandDeschain":1ztqk9hw said:

Not that I'm defending Emperor Belichick here or anything, but the fact that he benches a RB for like, years, if they cough it up may have a bit of an impact, too.

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That doesn't explain this though.

kearly":25wmupmr said:

The deflated ball cheating started at some point early in the 2007 season. The Pats were busted for Spygate in week 1 of 2007. It's hilarious how bad this looks.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure they've been doing this since 2007 which is the year they changed the rules to allow teams to provide their own game balls at both home and away games. Those fumble ratios are ridiculous for a cold weather non-dome team, especially since they were quite average prior to that.

The only reason 2013 was an outlier is because Brady was strip-sacked a lot; not much you can do against those.

A couple questions keep running through my head. Some are suggesting this will get pinned on a ball boy or equipment manager. Looking at the charts it seems pretty obvious this has been going on since likely 2007 or so. Do they still have the same ball boy and equipment manager through that entire time frame?

In 2008 when Brady missed the season with injury was the Patriots fumble total similar per play as to years he was playing? If so then that means it is more than Brady dictating the ball inflation or in this case, deflation.

Side note. 11 of 12 balls were all deflated equally but the 12th football was not deflated at all. Is that 12th ball the one their DB's were practicing with? So they would be use to the difference? Might be reaching but if they were knowingly cheating it would make sense to have your defense handle balls that would be similar to what they might encounter due to an INT or fumble.
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I read somewhere that the 12th ball was deflated somewhat, just not a full 2 PSI like the other 11 were.

[/url]http://www.wsj.com/articles/patriots-always-keep-a-tight-grip-on-the-ball-1422054846?mod=wsj_hpp_sections_sports check out this link! :snack:

That Damn 'team' ...I hope Lynch gets to grab his balls 5 times in this Superbowl..with the 5th one right in ppretty boy and hoody's faces!

TXHawk":53ff8rt8 said:

kearly":53ff8rt8 said:

The deflated ball cheating started at some point early in the 2007 season. The Pats were busted for Spygate in week 1 of 2007. It's hilarious how bad this looks.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure they've been doing this since 2007 which is the year they changed the rules to allow teams to provide their own game balls at both home and away games. Those fumble ratios are ridiculous for a cold weather non-dome team, especially since they were quite average prior to that.

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I'm sure it's a coincidence. It just looks funny as hell to think they basically started this cheat at nearly the exact same time they were busted for taping games. The week after they taped their last game, they were still cheating with a brand new cheat, the deflated football.

Now the 'Belicheat' crowd can actually argue that the Patriots have ALWAYS been cheaters.

I have nothing against the Pats but I think that's hilarious.