The NFL Discussion Thread

[Dukefrukem]

It's been reported that the Colts first noticed the Patriots' balls were lighter when they played them in Indy back in November. Probably reasonable to conclude the Pats were also deflating balls for other games if they felt the need to do it in Indy.

And the Colts sat on this information for 6 weeks until Playoffs? lol Pleeease.

[DavidSeven]

shaun will enjoy this...

CNN Anchor/Pats Fan's take on Ballghazi

(CNN) Shame on me.

If the reports are true, and somehow the New England Patriots deflated 11 balls in the AFC Championship Game, then shame on me.

Screw them, and shame on me.

I am 42, and have been a New England Patriots fan for 42 years, plus nine months when you include that prenatal season. (While your mother was listening to Mozart, mine was listening to Gil Santos talk about Jim Plunkett.)

In fact, at this point in my life, I essentially do only three things: 1) Anchor at CNN, 2) help raise twin 7-year-old boys and 3) root for Boston sports teams. And if I am being honest, the one I am best at is No. 3. I am a really good Boston sports fan. There are few better. And the Patriots are ruining all my hard work, debasing my skills and tainting the hours upon hours of joy that fandom gave me.

This is an existential crisis. How can you root for a cheater? How can you award malfeasance? How can you cheer a con? You can't. At least you shouldn't. I shouldn't cheer for the Patriots. I know that, no matter what my genetic coding says.

I am not going to dwell on the specifics of the accusations, or the physics of what advantage you get from deflated footballs. The fact is, if the reports are true, the balls the Patriots used had way too little air in them. Well below what the league allows. Well below what the rules allow. And if they did it deliberately -- and I am struggling to think of any way it could have happened otherwise -- there is a word for that: cheating. They cheated. And how can you root for a cheater? You can't. At least you shouldn't. I know that.

For all the Patriots playoff games this year, my sons and I have all donned our No. 12 Tom Brady jerseys. We wore them because Brady is so darn good, so darn handsome and so full of the values of hard work and perseverance that you want your sports icons to embody. Or so we thought. Did he have any knowledge or any involvement in deflating footballs? Oh God, I hope not. But can I guarantee you that he didn't? Nope. Not even close. So how can I wear his jersey for the Super Bowl? I can't. At least I shouldn't. I know that.

[. . . .]

[MadMan]

Well the Pats must have been unable to deflate the footballs when they got their asses kicked by Kansas City. And now I'm reminded of how the Chiefs beat both Super Bowl teams this season and still missed the playoffs. Grrrrrr.

[shaun]

Belichick kinda throwing Brady under the bus on this one. Makes sense for the QB to be responsible anyways. And zero chance some ball boy did it without Brady's knowledge.

“I think we all know that quarterbacks, kickers, specialists have certain preferences on the footballs,” Belichick said. “They know a lot more than I do. They’re a lot more sensitive to it than I am. I hear them comment on it from time to time, but I can tell you and they will tell you that there’s never any sympathy whatsoever from me on that subject. Zero. Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide.”

[DavidSeven]

I think they'll make Brady the fall guy. Pretty smart because it might preserve the draft picks, and the league won't suspend Brady for the SB. Will kill his rep, though.

[MadMan]

I'm not sure I care to be honest. Hell let's just have the two teams in the Super Bowl play five on five two hand touch if people care so much.

[Dukefrukem]

Brady murdered all of those reporters yesterday on live television. Bunch of rabid dogs. You never see that much attention at the White House.

[Dukefrukem]

Wut? Lol

[shaun]

[DavidSeven]

There's some interesting stats being shared out there about how New England's fumble rate since 2007, especially in rainy games, have been almost impossibly low. Before 2007, they were around the league average.

2007 is the year that the NFL started allowing visiting teams to use their own footballs.

[shaun]

It's interesting that they're using total fumbles instead of fumbles lost or some such because fumble recovery has proven over a large enough sample size to be completely random. Those should normalize around 50%.

There are still a ton of factors that go into fumbles but grip would certainly be one of them.

[Dukefrukem]

[Gizmo]

It's 2 in the morning, so it's the only thing on, and I still don't give a shit about the Super Bowl. Looks like it's been a decent game, 14-14 at the half, but I haven't really been paying attention. If I weren't on night shift I'd definitely have not stayed up. I can't stand either team, but expected to start pulling one way or the other once it got going, but even that hasn't happened. I really don't care who wins.

[Scar]

At least its a decent game. I'd love it if we could get a live feed of Duke's vitals during the game.

[dreamdead]

How... do... the... Seahawks... not... run... in that situation? Carroll and the coaching staff got too creative for their own good. It totally looked like Belichick had conceded a Lynch touchdown so that they could get the ball back.

The sheer exasperation from Brady's face during the bumble-recovery, to his jubilee, is too sincere for me to actively dislike this win.

[Scar]

I didn't know how I'd feel if the Pats won another Super Bowl. But, you know, I sit here smiling, and I'm glad they beat Seattle. Seattle just annoys​ me.

[Dukefrukem]

Brady is the best QB of all time. End of story.

[Acapelli]

enjoy the asterisk duke!

[Dukefrukem]

You're smarter than that acapelli

[Dead & Messed Up]

As someone who cares nothing for sports, let alone the NFL, fun game, especially the preposterous last five minutes. The catch after the ball bouncing off his body, the interception at the goal line, the fight! Craziness.

[Philip J. Fry]

This will haunt Carroll forever. He had it on the bag.

[Acapelli]

You're smarter than that acapelli

it is my god given right as a jets fan to be extremely petty when it comes to the patriots. thought you knew that duke!

[Acapelli]

[Pop Trash]

I kinda dislike both of these teams equally, but that was the most entertaining last quarter of a Super Bowl I can remember. Shit, we even got a fight at the end!

[Fezzik]

I am kinda glad the Super Bowl is over. Not because I don't love football. I do. But I am SO glad I won't be seeing any more of my "cultured" and "nerdy" friends post variations of the "I heard there's a football game today, or something?" or statusus that basically are them puffing out their chests about how little they care about the game.

Shit like that is just SO tiring to me. Get over yourselves and go do....whatever it is you do when the Super Bowl is on, please.