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Deflated footballs just latest corner Belichick's Pats accused of cutting


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Bellichek is a genius. I wish he was our coach. Hopefully, bowles has some of these ingenius tactics up his sleeve.

Totally agree.  I won't enumerate the innumerable examples of teams in sports who have used "little tricks" to get a slight advantage. In baseball alone, this crap has been going on since the sport began (you got a fast team, they leave the infield grass a little higher).  And go ask the supposed doyens of the NFL whom we call the NY Giants about opening gates during field goals, etc.

 

Andrew Luck will tell you the Colts got flat out destroyed on sunday.  Like some micro amount of air is going to account for a 38 point differential.  lol Give me a fukkin' break.

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One thing I will say, I am tired of the " the would've won anyway , it didn't help" argument ...that's not the point ..if BB did this he did it for a reason , same argument was made for spy gate ...eventually the NFL is going to have to take a stand and suspend the guy .

 

Yeah well the "it wouldn't have helped argument" only works after the game is in the books. The decision to cheat is made before the game is played. It is not a defense.

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Yeah well the "it wouldn't have helped argument" only works after the game is in the books. The decision to cheat is made before the game is played. It is not a defense.

correct,,Pats have figured out fines, lost draft picks are worth NFL lore/history and money from winning SB with all merchandise entails..

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correct,,Pats have figured out fines, lost draft picks are worth NFL lore/history and money from winning SB with all merchandise entails..

 

reminds me of a news story about a guy who killed his wife. in the autopsy, it was found she had terminal brain cancer and would've been dead in a month or two anyway. the "she would've died anyway" defense resulted in him getting the electric chair.

 

his lawyer should've been disbarred. i would've gone with the "it was a mercy killing" defense instead.

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reminds me of a news story about a guy who killed his wife. in the autopsy, it was found she had terminal brain cancer and would've been dead in a month or two anyway. the "she would've died anyway" defense resulted in him getting the electric chair.

 

his lawyer should've been disbarred. i would've gone with the "it was a mercy killing" defense instead.

I would have used the 'she asked me to do it, didnt want a slow death' defense...2nd degree or manslaughter  (especially if majority women on jury)

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thay have already said the results of deflate-gate will be announced in the off season.  which means they decided ahead of time they are letting belicheat get away with it

 

goddell created this monster when he destroyed the spygate evidence.  it let belicheat know the league was more interested in image than substance,  more concerned with advertising dollars than integrity

 

so belicheat keeps cheating

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While I can't stand the Patriots as a Jets fan.... Think about this. There are many companies that use EVERY competitive advantage possible to to win and gain an upper hand in there market. Hell Wall Street does it all the time and many of us benefit from it. The Patriots from owner to GM to coach to QB to janitor have a culture that says take any advantage just this side of the rules to their favor. And the results prove out their success. And the dude coaching the NFC contestant is the exact same way. That's the NFL in the 21st century. Hell it's life in the 21st century.

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http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/19/new-england-patriots-deflategate-bill-belichick-tom-brady

 

Did the Patriots really illegally deflate footballs in the AFC Championship Game,as the NFL is investigating? Well, put it this way: There have been a lot of unbelievable NFL stories this season.

 

This is not one of them.

 

This? This is totally believable. Around the NFL, people wait for stories like this to come out of New England. They wonder when Bill Belichick’s team will get nailed again. This is not as simple as saying, "Hey, they got caught for SpyGate!" It runs deeper than that. The Patriots are suspected of cutting so many corners, their home field should be an oval. It starts in the parking lot, extends to the locker room, goes right to the field of play, and makes opponents look all over Gillette Stadium, wondering what Belichick will pull next.

 

Let’s start with the allegation at hand, first reported by Bob Kravitz of WTHR in Indianapolis. Obviously, the Patriots did not whip the Colts because of the air in the football. The Colts were overmatched. But the question is not whether Belichick needed to cheat. It’s whether he did, and could.

 

Generally, the home team supplies footballs, but that’s no advantage, because the officials check them all before the game. The advantage begins after the game starts. The home team has ball boys (or girls) who monitor the balls on both sidelines during the game. Officials can’t do it, because they are officiating the game.

 

And since each team’s offense tends to use the balls from its own sideline, a team could easily deflate balls on its sideline, allowing for an easier grip and more catchable ball, without the other team ever catching on. In this case, Tom Bradycould throw a slightly deflated ball without Andrew Luck ever touching that ball.  (Perhaps the biggest advantage would be deflating the special-teams balls, or “K-balls,” that the opponent uses, because obviously a deflated ball would not travel as far. But that would be harder to pull off.)

 

There are a number of ways to manipulate footballs. You can warm them, so they travel farther. (Ask golfers or home-run hitters how much that helps.) The point is, this is a big deal, and while it didn’t decide Sunday’s game, there are real reasons a coach might try this.

And if any coach would try it, it’s Belichick. He has earned his reputation for doing anything to gain an advantage. There are well-founded whispers in the NFL that the underlings who supply towels in the visiting locker room sometimes run back to the home locker room to share what they heard.

 

The Patriots supposedly stopped videotaping opponents’ defensive signals when they got caught in 2007, but opponents wonder if they are still stealing them. Smart opposing coaches put locks on every entryway to the locker room, so nobody from the Patriots can walk in, "accidentally" grab a play sheet or two and "inadvertently" bring it back to the New England coaches.

 

Even before the ball-deflating allegations, Belichick skirted the rules in the playoffs. Just last week, he declared certain players "ineligible" and gained a bunch of yards with that formation in a tight win over the Ravens. He confidently said afterward that it was all legal. The NFL concurred.

Well, look closer. This is a pretty good window into how Belichick operates.It is customary for coaches to run usual trick plays past the league office during the week, to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. Belichick didn’t do that. Right before the game, he told referee Bill Vinovich he would declare certain players as ineligible receivers. This put Vinovich in the difficult position of deciding, with no notice, if he should tell the great Bill Belichick he was trying something illegal.

 

Technically, what Belichick suggested is legal. Vinovich OK’d it. But the key to the plan was what Belichick did not say. He did not say he would hurry up his offense when he declared certain receivers ineligible, giving the Ravens no time to adjust to the tactic. The Ravens barely had time to see who was eligible before the ball was snapped. The officials couldn’t even get into proper position. They allowed the ball to be snapped too quickly.

That was the whole point of the tactic. It was a circumvention of the rules. Look at it this way: Sometimes an offense goes to a no-huddle, hurry-up offense, hoping to wear out defensive players. But if the offense substitutes, the offense can’t hurry so much. The defense gets a chance to substitute, too. It’s only fair, right?

 

Well, that’s what the Patriots avoided against Baltimore. They switched their eligible receivers and gave Baltimore no time to adjust. The league officiating office might have sniffed this out with a few days’ notice, but Belichick counted on his ability to confuse and probably intimidate Vinovich.

Coaches are onto this trick now. That is why, no matter what the NFL’s rules committee does this spring, Belichick probably won’t use the tactic anymore. Refs won’t let the Pats declare receivers illegal and hurry up like that again. But it doesn’t matter. Belichick won his way, and now he can look for another advantage.

 

Belichick prides himself on being a football historian, and a lot of this is only "legal" if you come from the old-time "if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying" school of ethics. That doesn’t make it right, or fair. Or even, if you want to get technical, legal. Belichick has such disdain for the league office that he seems to revel in beating the league as much as he enjoys beating his opponents.

How ingrained is the culture? On one end of Gillette Stadium is a lighthouse, the stadium’s signature architectural feature. But if you sit behind the opposite end zone and look at the lighthouse, you will notice something else: An enormous television beyond the lighthouse, in the parking lot.

 

Officially, this allows people in the parking lot to watch TV. Is it a coincidence that you can see that TV from the Patriots’ sideline, but not from the opposing sideline, making it easier for the Patriots to watch replays and decide whether to throw the challenge flag?

 

Belichick can get away with a lot in the moment. The code of silence in New England is legendary, and almost comical -- Sunday night, a few players were wary of talking to me about getting together and drinking kava, a drink that is symbolic in Polynesian cultures. The drink is non-alcoholic, and it has nothing to do with football, but players understand: In New England, you don’t say nothin' about nothin'. But over time, dirty laundry falls out. Players sign with other teams. Coaches take other jobs. They talk. Remember, the SpyGate scandal exploded because a former Patriots assistant, Eric Mangini, became the head coach with the Jets and ratted on Belichick.

 

There is resentment of the Patriots in the NFL, and all that winning only partly explains it. Sometimes it’s subtle. Patriots owner Robert Kraft serves on the board of directors of Viacom. The chairman of that board is Sumner Redstone, who is also the chairman of the board of CBS. (CBS and Viacom were part of the same company but split in 2006.) Does Kraft secure preferable game times for his Patriots? Let’s just say it wouldn’t be hard to do.

 

Kraft is a close confidant and protector of commissioner Roger Goodell; in September, when the Ray Rice punch video leaked, and Goodell went into public relations overdrive, Kraft defended him on national television … on CBS, naturally. Cross Belichick and you cross Kraft. Cross Kraft and you risk the wrath of Goodell.  Maybe some of this is overstated. But the perception is real, and it is not totally unfounded.

 

And of course, coaches wonder if the Patriots are still stealing signals. Belichick still insists he did nothing wrong. The great mystery of the whole SpyGate scandal was why Goodell destroyed the video evidence. It’s a trick that Goodell would never try today, because the country is onto his act. But back then, he was still selling himself as the Sheriff Commish, and his approval ratings were higher, and he could take draft picks away and still destroy the evidence to help Kraft -- protecting his protector, in essence. Goodell could get away with it then.

 

The ball-deflating allegations are difficult to prove, and without hard evidence the NFL probably doesn't want to embarrass one of its Super Bowl teams.

Are the Patriots favored sons? When defensive players get flagged for a helmet-to-knee hit on Tom Brady, Brady has been known to remind them: “They made that ----ing rule for me!” And it’s true: After safety Bernard Pollard injured Brady in 2006, the NFL did change its rules to protect its star quarterbacks.

These are your AFC champions: incredibly talented, expertly coached and very comfortable crossing lines that other franchises wouldn’t dare cross. Funny thing about the NFL: Everybody uses the same rulebook. Some just use it more "creatively" than others.

 

Thanks for posting that mate. Based on the responses your Jets fan brethren didn't read it.

 

 

The Patriots supposedly stopped videotaping opponents’ defensive signals when they got caught in 2007, but opponents wonder if they are still stealing them. Smart opposing coaches put locks on every entryway to the locker room, so nobody from the Patriots can walk in, "accidentally" grab a play sheet or two and "inadvertently" bring it back to the New England coaches.

 

Don't all NFL teams use tablets? How do opposing coaches put locks on a door that has a lock?

 

 

There are well-founded whispers in the NFL that the underlings who supply towels in the visiting locker room sometimes run back to the home locker room to share what they heard.

 

 

:sign0090:

 

Even before the ball-deflating allegations, Belichick skirted the rules in the playoffs. Just last week, he declared certain players "ineligible" and gained a bunch of yards with that formation in a tight win over the Ravens. He confidently said afterward that it was all legal. The NFL concurred

 

I've had enough of this dbag.

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While I can't stand the Patriots as a Jets fan.... Think about this. There are many companies that use EVERY competitive advantage possible to to win and gain an upper hand in there market. Hell Wall Street does it all the time and many of us benefit from it. The Patriots from owner to GM to coach to QB to janitor have a culture that says take any advantage just this side of the rules to their favor. And the results prove out their success. And the dude coaching the NFC contestant is the exact same way. That's the NFL in the 21st century. Hell it's life in the 21st century.

THIS.

the article loses it's steam when it clearly states the substitutions were legal.

These are billion dollar business, not 2nd grade kick ball.

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THIS.

the article loses it's steam when it clearly states the substitutions were legal.

These are billion dollar business, not 2nd grade kick ball.

Harbaugh came out of this looking like a complete fool and clueless moron.

Brady had the best comment during his press conference when he said Harbaugh "needs to go read the rule book".

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Pssst, the World Championship game in 1969 (not even called the Super Bowl way back then) was played in January and not February.

 

Pssst, the World Championship game in 1969 doesn't have a huge * next to it. 

 

Something the Patsies will never have.

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I hate the Pats as much as the next Jet fan, but IMO this is being blown way out of proportion. If this is really true, how are the refs not responsible for their signing off on all of these deflated balls.

thats hour or more b4 game,, ballboy could have deflated on sideline 

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Anything's possible, I just don't see the big deal in all of this to be honest, if the ball was so deflated, the refs were touching it all game, how did they not notice it?

It should tell you REFs are complicit,  2 effen pounds difference!!!!!!!!!

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It should tell you REFs are complicit,  2 effen pounds difference!!!!!!!!!

 

Colts must have been too, since they played the whole game with it, did not ask for it to be stopped, and the HC of the Colts said he has no issue at all with it, and is only discussing  because he keeps getting asked about it

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Colts must have been too, since they played the whole game with it, did not ask for it to be stopped, and the HC of the Colts said he has no issue at all with it, and is only discussing  because he keeps getting asked about it

NOOOOOOOO

 

you are missing point, the Colts ball were all inflated properly. each team has 12 balls

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Colts must have been too, since they played the whole game with it, did not ask for it to be stopped, and the HC of the Colts said he has no issue at all with it, and is only discussing  because he keeps getting asked about it

Incorrect, they don't play with the same balls.

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NOOOOOOOO

 

you are missing point, the Colts ball were all inflated properly. each team has 12 balls

 

 

Incorrect, they don't play with the same balls.

 

OK, I stand corrected than. I still don't see it as a big deal to be honest. If the game where a 10 point game, I would say, OK, MAYBE this played into it, but it was a blowout.

 

The thing that is comical is that the Patriots felt the need to do this in the first place, its like a millionaire kleptomaniac stealing a pack of bubble gum at a convenience store.

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Anything's possible, I just don't see the big deal in all of this to be honest, if the ball was so deflated, the refs were touching it all game, how did they not notice it?

who knows, doesnt matter.. Refs in heta of game, rain,cold weather,, doesnt matter. 11/12 balls bad, uneven playing field for Brady. I assume Colts bag was normal inflated balls.

 

Belly may find himslef suspened aka Sean Peyton for a year,,basiclly same offense,,ignoring previous commish warning..bounty vs cheating

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who knows, doesnt matter.. Refs in heta of game, rain,cold weather,, doesnt matter. 11/12 balls bad, uneven playing field for Brady. I assume Colts bag was normal inflated balls.

 

Belly may find himslef suspened aka Sean Peyton for a year,,basiclly same offense,,ignoring previous commish warning..bounty vs cheating

 

That would be awesome, would love to see it! #SmallBallsGate

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OK, I stand corrected than. I still don't see it as a big deal to be honest. If the game where a 10 point game, I would say, OK, MAYBE this played into it, but it was a blowout.

 

The thing that is comical is that the Patriots felt the need to do this in the first place, its like a millionaire kleptomaniac stealing a pack of bubble gum at a convenience store.

 

Again, the decision to cheat is made before the game is played while the outcome is unknown. "It had no impact on the outcome" is not a defense. Your millionaire kleptomaniac analogy is not an appropriate one. He knows he is a millionaire before he goes in the store.

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OK, I stand corrected than. I still don't see it as a big deal to be honest. If the game where a 10 point game, I would say, OK, MAYBE this played into it, but it was a blowout.

The thing that is comical is that the Patriots felt the need to do this in the first place, its like a millionaire kleptomaniac stealing a pack of bubble gum at a convenience store.

What if they did the same versus Baltimore and it didn't get spotted ... 4 point game, could have been the difference maker.
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