Conference Championship thread

[NC_Skins]

Sports Illustrated: Patriots Cross Lines Other Teams Wouldn’t Dare Crossing | New England Patriots | NESN.com

In a column framed around the accusation that the Patriots deflated balls in Sunday’s 45-7 AFC Championship Game win over the Indianapolis Colts, Sports Illustrated listed many other ways in which the Patriots “cut corners.”
Here are some:


–Patriots staffers who supply the visiting team with towels eavesdrop and report back findings to the home team.

–Opposing coaches put locks on their locker room to prevent Patriots staffers from walking in to grab play sheets.

–Head coach Bill Belichick didn’t follow the unwritten rule to run by his ineligible formations with the league office before running them last Saturday

–Belichick instead ran it by NFL referee Bill Vinovich before the game in hopes to confuse and intimidate the official.

–And the best of all: The large monitor outside CBS Scene restaurant in Patriot Place only is visible to the Patriots’ sideline, which gives Belichick and the Patriots the advantage of being able to see replays.

[Giantone]

45- 7 and people say it because of deflated balls and they cheat (BS) .Belichick if he wins in two weeks will be the greatest NFL coach in history,I think he is now,to do what he does with ever changing talent like he does and take a QB who almost wasn't drafted and to turn him into the greatest (one of them anyway) QB's of all time is amazing . Two things 1) simple ,people that hate him and accuse him of cheating are jealous ,yes it is that simple .2) All of us that root for other teams want the same success that the Patriots have ,and we would laugh and defend our team it it was attack in the same matter ,the Colts and Andrew Luck are grown ups if the balls need air ...."LET the REF KNOW" .

[Buffalo Bob]

Originally Posted by Giantone

45- 7 and people say it because of deflated balls and they cheat (BS) .Belichick if he wins in two weeks will be the greatest NFL coach in history,I think he is now,to do what he does with ever changing talent like he does and take a QB who almost wasn't drafted and to turn him into the greatest (one of them anyway) QB's of all time is amazing . Two things 1) simple ,people that hate him and accuse him of cheating are jealous ,yes it is that simple .2) All of us that root for other teams want the same success that the Patriots have ,and we would laugh and defend our team it it was attack in the same matter ,the Colts and Andrew Luck are grown ups if the balls need air ...."LET the REF KNOW" .

Agreed, people are just jealous. Every year the demise of the Patriots is predicted when they lose key players because of finances yet they just plug someone else in. Many times Brady making a previously unheard of receiver into an elite one. Other teams throwaway players turn into stars. Blount is this year's special. Having top notch ownership, and a HOF coach and QB keep the Patriots contenders year after year no matter what happens.

[Hijinx]

Originally Posted by Giantone

45- 7 and people say it because of deflated balls and they cheat (BS) .Belichick if he wins in two weeks will be the greatest NFL coach in history,I think he is now,to do what he does with ever changing talent like he does and take a QB who almost wasn't drafted and to turn him into the greatest (one of them anyway) QB's of all time is amazing . Two things 1) simple ,people that hate him and accuse him of cheating are jealous ,yes it is that simple .2) All of us that root for other teams want the same success that the Patriots have ,and we would laugh and defend our team it it was attack in the same matter ,the Colts and Andrew Luck are grown ups if the balls need air ...."LET the REF KNOW" .

Are you saying since they won by a lot, that their cheating didn't matter. How many points do you have to win by for cheating to matter? Is it a certain number of points, or a ratio?

No one said they won solely based on cheating. But they did cheat and they did win. So they do deserve to be punished and HARD. They got off light last time you have to crack down this time.

[Ruhskins]

11 of 12 Pats' footballs under-inflated - ESPN

Ladies and Gentlemen your 2014 New England Patriots:

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

11 of 12 Pats' footballs under-inflated - ESPN

Ladies and Gentlemen your 2014 New England Patriots:

Same balls used for both teams .

[Hijinx]

Originally Posted by Giantone

Same balls used for both teams .

Once again showing you don't know much. There are 3 sets of balls 12 for NE when they are on Offence, 12 when Indy is on Offence and the "K balls"; the ones they use for punting and kicking.

The only time that Indy player would touch a New England ball would be a turnover. In fact it was a Indy player who pointed it out to refs on a interception. The first time a Indy player touched one, he knew it was wrong. You telling me Brady didn't know, on about 50 snaps?

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by Hijinx

Once again showing you don't know much. There are 3 sets of balls 12 for NE when they are on Offence, 12 when Indy is on Offence and the "K balls"; the ones they use for punting and kicking.

The only time that Indy player would touch a New England ball would be a turnover. In fact it was a Indy player who pointed it out to refs on a interception. The first time a Indy player touched one, he knew it was wrong. You telling me Brady didn't know, on about 50 snaps?

I admit, I thought that the refs actually had control of all the footballs all the time. I remember the issue that came up when the "K" ones were added. It seems crazy that somehow this could even be an issue at this point in the NFL.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

I admit, I thought that the refs actually had control of all the footballs all the time. I remember the issue that came up when the "K" ones were added. It seems crazy that somehow this could even be an issue at this point in the NFL.

I thought so, too. We can be sure that a rule change will make it that way now.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by Hijinx

Once again showing you don't know much. There are 3 sets of balls 12 for NE when they are on Offence, 12 when Indy is on Offence and the "K balls"; the ones they use for punting and kicking.

The only time that Indy player would touch a New England ball would be a turnover. In fact it was a Indy player who pointed it out to refs on a interception. The first time a Indy player touched one, he knew it was wrong. You telling me Brady didn't know, on about 50 snaps?

No , once again people are showing that they just can't accept how good that Belichick is or how good that whole organisation is ,at 45 - 7 it is jealousy that simple

I will admit I forgot there was a separate group of balls for the kickers but still the hate and jealousy for this team is amazing .

[Skinzman]

Originally Posted by Giantone

No , once again people are showing that they just can't accept how good that Belichick is or how good that whole organisation is ,at 45 - 7 it is jealousy that simple

I will admit I forgot there was a separate group of balls for the kickers but still the hate and jealousy for this team is amazing .

Its not hate and jealousy, its simply that some people dont want them to cheat. I know its a novel concept to you, but a lot of people are like that. Stop using the excuse that its ok for the better teams to cheat because they are the better teams. Im getting sick of hearing that since they would have won anyway, that any cheating is justified. Cheating is never justified regardless of whether they are good or bad. I hate Seattle, have never accused them of cheating. They are going to back to back SB's due to how good they are (and GB just giving a game away but it is what it is), but I both hate them and are jealous of their success since Carroll arrived. So if what you are saying is true, then where are the Seattle cheated accusations?

I mean seriously, how hard is it to inflate a football? You have to be one of the stupidest people on the planet to screw that up 11 out of 12 times...

PS... its not just separate balls for the kickers, its separate balls for each team as well. If both offenses used the same ball, this would be no where near the issue that it is.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Hijinx

Once again showing you don't know much. There are 3 sets of balls 12 for NE when they are on Offence, 12 when Indy is on Offence and the "K balls"; the ones they use for punting and kicking.

The only time that Indy player would touch a New England ball would be a turnover. In fact it was a Indy player who pointed it out to refs on a interception. The first time a Indy player touched one, he knew it was wrong. You telling me Brady didn't know, on about 50 snaps?

According the NFL rule book (link below), the refs are solely responsible to make sure all footballs comply. Also they mention each team provides 12 footballs, but the 12 footballs from visiting team will be backup footballs. Where did you get your information that the refs segregate the footballs by team? 12 for one team and 12 for another during play? I have NEVER heard of that. I have heard they have special designated footballs for kickers, but no mention that each can only use use the footballs they provided? What is your source? I am not saying you are wrong or calling you a liar, as you seem pretty emotional about this, but I am curious where you got your information? You might be right.?.? I don't claim to know.

http://static.nfl.com/static/content..._2013_Ball.pdf

" The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game.
Section 2
BALL SUPPLY
Each team will make 12 primary balls available for testing by the Referee two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game to meet League requirements. The home team will also make 12 backup balls available for testing in all stadiums. In addition, the visitors, at their discretion, may bring 12 backup balls to be tested by the Referee for games
held in outdoor stadiums. For all games, eight new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer to the Referee, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

According the NFL rule book (link below), the refs are solely responsible to make sure all footballs comply. Also they mention each team provides 12 footballs, but the 12 footballs from visiting team will be backup footballs. Where did you get your information that the refs segregate the footballs by team? 12 for one team and 12 for another during play? I have NEVER heard of that. I have heard they have special designated footballs for kickers, but no mention that each can only use use the footballs they provided? What is your source? I am not saying you are wrong or calling you a liar, as you seem pretty emotional about this, but I am curious where you got your information? You might be right.?.? I don't claim to know.

http://static.nfl.com/static/content..._2013_Ball.pdf

" The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game.
Section 2
BALL SUPPLY
Each team will make 12 primary balls available for testing by the Referee two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game to meet League requirements. The home team will also make 12 backup balls available for testing in all stadiums. In addition, the visitors, at their discretion, may bring 12 backup balls to be tested by the Referee for games
held in outdoor stadiums. For all games, eight new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer to the Referee, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game.

Thank you for the link .

[Hijinx]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

According the NFL rule book (link below), the refs are solely responsible to make sure all footballs comply. Also they mention each team provides 12 footballs, but the 12 footballs from visiting team will be backup footballs. Where did you get your information that the refs segregate the footballs by team? 12 for one team and 12 for another during play? I have NEVER heard of that. I have heard they have special designated footballs for kickers, but no mention that each can only use use the footballs they provided? What is your source? I am not saying you are wrong or calling you a liar, as you seem pretty emotional about this, but I am curious where you got your information? You might be right.?.? I don't claim to know.

http://static.nfl.com/static/content..._2013_Ball.pdf

" The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game.
Section 2
BALL SUPPLY
Each team will make 12 primary balls available for testing by the Referee two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game to meet League requirements. The home team will also make 12 backup balls available for testing in all stadiums. In addition, the visitors, at their discretion, may bring 12 backup balls to be tested by the Referee for games
held in outdoor stadiums. For all games, eight new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer to the Referee, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game.

What that says is that each team supplies their own balls and the ref checks them. Two hour prior to the game the ref checks them, but the balls supplied by each team is their own. Each is rubbed down and broken in how they want it to be, within the rules. Except for the K balls which are brand new.

Here is a Boston Globe story agreeing with what I said. NFL says Patriots used 11 under-inflated footballs - Sports - The Boston Globe

[Darrell_Green_28]

Originally Posted by Giantone

Same balls used for both teams .

They are not the same balls for both teams, each team supplies 12.