It turns out, the NFL has found that 11 of 12 footballs used by the Patriots in the AFC championship game were inflated below regulation. The official report won't be released for a few more days, but this could be big.
This comes less than a decade after Spygate broke, and has probably permanently sullied the Patriots' reputation.
Did underinflated balls help them win against the Colts? Not on its own, no. But make no mistake about it, if it didn't confer some benefits, no one would have taken some air out of the balls. And with the history of Spygate and the lying the Patriots staff did over Spygate before the evidence came out proving their guilt, there is a legitimate question of whether other cheating tactics were deployed by the Patriots, to gain a significant advantage over the Colts.
And then you have to wonder just how long this scandal has been going on, too. Was this a one-time thing, or was it an ongoing effort? Did they just barely beat the Ravens by means of cheating, too?
So now we wait and wonder on the consequences of their actions -- does the NFL keep a close eye on the Patriots during all Super Bowl activities, do they add punitive measures such as taking draft picks away and fining the Patriots staff, or do they go so far as to keep Bill Belichick -- a repeat offender, now -- off the field in the Super Bowl?
As a Seattle fan, I was indifferent to the Patriots beating the Colts because on paper they seemed to be equally good, and the narrative of the matchups were equally compelling with either Indianapolis or New England. But with this scandal, surely all Seahawks should demand that the NFL keep a close eye on the Patriots staff the entire game and at all practice sessions!
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