Underinflated footballs? Really? So thats what its come to. After as thorough a thrashing as the Patriots put on the Indianapolis Colts in Sundays AFC Championship game, an Indianapolis television station reported they were tipped off that some of the footballs used during the game may have not met proper inflation standards. Call it Deflate-Gate, I guess. Heres what is really deflating about this issue - haters are gonna just keep on hating. Its more fuel for their fire in trying to tear down what the New England Patriots have managed to build up over the past 15 years. Cant beat ‘em on the field? No problem, lets tear them down with some cockamamie ruling off the field. Spygate? Deflategate? Well keep coming up with excuses, dont you worry. This is the burden that fans, players, coaches and anyone associated with the New England Patriots will apparently have to put up with for the foreseeable future, at least until someone somewhere feels like the Pat Patriot/Flying Elvis logo has been tarnished enough…and decides to point their poisonous barbs at another organization that needs to be knocked down a peg or two. Its what happens when you win in a league predicated on parity, its what happens when you do it consistently, and you occasionally bully them in the process. Never mind the fact its been 10 years since the last Super Bowl trophy was won. Thats exactly what the Patriots are. Theyre still bullies and the Colts (or Jets, or Bills, or Dolphins, or…) are the 90-pound comparative weaklings getting sand kicked in their faces. This is how they have to roll, when they cant do it on the field. Whats worse, perhaps, is that the teams getting whipped sometimes let their media do the accusing for them. How else do these things get leaked to reporters for public consumption? In this case, WTHR-TV in Indianapolis initially reported the NFL would be looking into the possibility that at least some of the footballs used in the game were not fully inflated as a way to make throwing and catching the ball easier in the rain. So, maybe if the balls used were properly inflated…or even over-inflated…the Patriots would have won by only 38-7 instead of 45-7? Its preposterous. The AFC Championship game was a thorough beat-down. This is more than an opponent grasping at straws - its embarrassing. It borders on persecution. What about running, blocking and tackling in the rain? Should we also have the league investigate the shoes and gloves? The shoulder pads and helmets? Where should this line of inequity be drawn, exactly? Tom Brady had it right when he was asked Monday morning on WEEI about the latest charges. I think Ive heard it all at this point…its ridiculous. It sure is, Tom. But its only going to get worse from here, especially if you keep winning the way you did against the Colts. The NFL will investigate, and if it can be proven someone knowingly altered the weight of a football, a fine will be paid. Was it the exact ball used for Bradys TD toss to Nate Solder? An underinflated ball caused the Colts to completely brain-cramp in covering a tackle-eligible receiver on that play? An underinflated ball caused LeGarrette Blount to run roughshod through the Indy defense like a bull moose might run loose in a china shop? I may be mistaken, but there were a few passes thrown by TB12 that were thrown behind his receivers and dropped (it was a little wet out there), so not ALL of the balls could have been underinflated, right? Maybe, just maybe…the Patriots are so good at cheating they choreographed the whole thing. Never let it be said the Patriots missed a beat. Or the boat. They dont. They look for every angle, every edge they can get, within the rules. Yet someone, somewhere, is still going to cry you cheated! Only because they didnt think of it first. As the saying apparently goes, haters gonna keep hating. Hankies continue to fall like the rain - Its really, really hard to find much to nitpick when you win a championship game 45-7. After all, how bad could the errors have been…if you still manage to win by 38 points? Heres the thing - if the errors are habitual, you never know when they can come back to haunt you. Brandon Browner committed a defensive holding penalty (again) early in the game on a 3rd down play, giving the Colts an automatic first down and keeping his teammates on the field. Even Vince Wilfork got into the act, with a roughness flag negating a loss on a completed pass…and combined with a Jamie Collinsillegal contact flag on another 3rd down play, the penalties kept the Colts 93-yard touchdown drive alive in the 2nd quarter. Some penalties you can live with. Others, like the ones that keep drives alive, can haunt you in the biggest games-yet-to-come.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 01:41:08 +0000
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