Following their blowout win Sunday in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 45-7, the New England Patriots are being investigated for tampering with footballs during the game.
An NFL source told WHTR.com’s Bob Kravitz that the league is currently investigating to see if the Patriots deflated footballs during Sunday’s game. The game, which was played in a rainstorm, ended in the Patriots favor by a wide margin, and they will advance to the Super Bowl to take on the Seattle Seahawks. If the league discovers that New England deflated footballs, they will lose future draft picks and be forced to pay a significant fine as a penalty.
The NFL rule book states that the home team is to have 36 footballs “available for testing with a pressure gauge by the referee two hours prior to the starting time of the game to meet with League requirements.”
A football that is deflated would be easier to throw and catch, especially in inclement weather. A less inflated football is obviously easier to grip than a fully inflated ball. The deflated ball would not have affected the Patriots running game, however, which is where they did most of their damage on the day. Running Back LeGarrette Blount ran 30 times for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns.
This is not the first time the Patriots have faced allegations for breaking the rules. During the 2007 season, the team was investigated and eventually penalized for spying on the New York Jets by recording and stealing their signals during a game. Head coach Bill Belichick paid a large fine and the team lost a first-round draft pick.
NFL Investigating Patriots for Deflating Footballs
No comments:
Post a Comment