***OFFICIAL NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS SEASON THREAD*** (13-4) - Patriots @ Broncos - Sun 3:05PM EST - Bra

[mr marcus]

**** 'em

I had to take a break from social media.....legit getting mad at the slander 

 

[EddieDoyers]

50 college-educated adults are asking a man if he let air out of a ball.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 22, 2015

 

[rolaholic]

50 college-educated adults are asking a man if he let air out of a ball.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 22, 2015

 

[7th Chamber]

**** 'em


I had to take a break from social media.....legit getting mad at the slander |I

For real man

 

[getback]

jerome bettis , brian dawkins , and mark brunell going in on Brady

All past victims of the dynasty 

 

[mr marcus]

 

jerome bettis , brian dawkins , and mark brunell going in on Brady

All past victims of the dynasty 

that's why I found it hilarious.....all these dudes have hurt.

man when Brady retire I have to make sure I'm in Canton 5 years later 

 

[earldagoat]

LMAO @ how ESPN continues to conflate the issues.

It's a non story folks.  It's a $25,000 fine if there's ever any proof that anything actually happened.  The Colts' CB story was a hoax.  Ask yourselves, what do we really know?  It's purely conjecture at this point.  Personally I'd love it if the refs screwed the pooch on this one.  Still, people want the blood of B&B.  The mob is out on a witch hunt; that's for sure.  But wasn't Brady's press conference punishment enough?  Would be interesting if the NFL knew the refs screwed up and are now freely allowing the Pats to get stuck in the cross-hairs.  IMO all this draft pick and retirement and lost honor talk is for sad lonely people.  Ya hear that?  It's the last round at the bar folks.  Only repeat OUI offenders are complaining about this one anymore.

 

[7th Chamber]

I love how 3 Super Bowl appearances and 4 straight AFC Championship appearances isn't considered successful.

Does someone have their record compared to the rest of the NFL since spygate?

 

[prez t]

D'Qwell Jackson didn't notice weight

PHOENIX - Indianapolis Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said it wasn't him who raised the concerns about New England's footballs being under-inflated during Sunday's AFC Championship Game.

After Thursday's Pro Bowl practice at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona, Jackson said he couldn't tell whether the ball he intercepted in the second quarter of a 45-7 loss to the New England Patriots was or wasn't deflated below the threshold allowed by the NFL.

"I'm a linebacker, I'm a defensive guy," Jackson said. "If anybody recognized anything it definitely wouldn't come from me."

After picking Patriots quarterback Tom Brady with about 9:21 left in the first half, Jackson said he gave the ball to the Colts' equipment staff to save for him as a "souvenir." He didn't know what happened to the football after that and said it's still "beyond" him as to what the chain of events were.

Asked how the football got to NFL officials, Jackson said "that's a question that I can't answer."

there goes that crux of the argument out the window

 

[rolaholic]

This thing has gotten so out of hand,its basically become a witch hunt. Most of the talking heads on TV are calling for BB and Bradys head without having a shred of evidence to back their accusations/suggested punishments.

Seems like the burden of proof has been tossed out the window and its become guilty until proven innocent .

Also,you'd think it'd be easy to come up with some if anyone was guilty with the multitude of cameras focused on the sidelines during games but nothing yet...

 

[cashbanks]

Played football my whole life an under inflated football ain't why the colts got spanked

but ESPN needs something to talk about

Fine Brady and move on

 

[rolaholic]

Exactly,its not like Blount was a few pounds lighter that game and Luck threw for 0 TD's

*Edit: Apparently the balls were switched before halftime and the offense started using Colts balls near the end of the 2nd quarter

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ckson-i-didnt-know-football-had-less-pressure

How are people more mad at this than the freaking Colts?

 

[7th Chamber]

How is this story not even being discussed whatsoever? It's cheating, no? That kind of gives merit to the argument that if it's not the Patriots, who cares.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ors-have-visited-browns-over-in-game-texting/

 

[earldagoat]

(Source) ~ "Among the many people who had contact with the Patriots pigskin used in Sunday’s AFC championship — which were reportedly underinflated — were the ball boys. And one former ball boy (who did not take part in Sunday’s match) told NBC News that his goal was always to prepare the ball to the quarterback’s preference and hope they passed inspection, and that it would have been very difficult to tamper with them afterward. Eric Kester, who was a ball boy for the Chicago Bears in 2003, says he can’t speculate about the controversy dubbed “Deflate-Gate,” but he remembers how the preparation worked — starting with the delivery of factory-fresh balls a few days before a game. Two hours before kickoff, he would bring the balls to the referees’ locker room for inspection. 'I recall them having a pressure gauge in the locker room, but most often they just squeezed the balls, turned them over in their hands a few times each, and inspected the laces. I don’t recall them ever rejecting one of our balls,' he said."

Looking like those clumsy zebras inspection process may not be up to par.  Appears they fumble around with the game balls for a second or two and let them go. 

 

[DeadsetAce]

 

[earldagoat]

---

NFL Statement

Our office has been conducting an investigation as to whether the footballs used in last Sunday’s AFC Championship Game complied with the specifications that are set forth in the playing rules. The investigation began based on information that suggested that the game balls used by the New England Patriots were not properly inflated to levels required by the playing rules, specifically Playing Rule 2, Section 1, which requires that the ball be inflated to between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch. Prior to the game, the game officials inspect the footballs to be used by each team and confirm that this standard is satisfied, which was done before last Sunday’s game.

The investigation is being led jointly by NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash and Ted Wells of the law firm of Paul Weiss. Mr. Wells and his firm bring additional expertise and a valuable independent perspective. The investigation began promptly on Sunday night. Over the past several days, nearly40 interviews have been conducted, including of Patriots personnel, game officials, and third parties with relevant information and expertise. We have obtained and are continuing to obtain additional information, including video and other electronic information and physical evidence. We have retained Renaissance Associates, an investigatory firm with sophisticated forensic expertise to assist in reviewing electronic and video information.

The playing rules are intended to protect the fairness and integrity of our games. We take seriously claims that those rules have been violated and will fully investigate this matter without compromise or delay. The investigation is ongoing, will be thorough and objective, and is being pursued expeditiously. In the coming days, we expect to conduct numerous additional interviews, examine video and other forensic evidence, as well as relevant physical evidence. While the evidence thus far supports the conclusion that footballs that were under-inflated were used by the Patriots in the first half, the footballs were properly inflated for the second half and confirmed at the conclusion of the game to have remained properly inflated. The goals of the investigation will be to determine the explanation for why footballs used in the game were not in compliance with the playing rules and specifically whether any noncompliance was the result of deliberate action. We have not made any judgments on these points and will not do so until we have concluded our investigation and considered all of the relevant evidence.

Upon being advised of the investigation, the Patriots promptly pledged their full cooperation and have made their personnel and other information available to us upon request. Our investigation will seek information from any and all relevant sources and we expect full cooperation from other clubs as well. As we develop more information and are in a position to reach conclusions, we will share them publicly.

 

[7th Chamber]

5 days of investigation and over 40 interviews and nothing?

 

[illoquent aka dsk]

Prediction: this is gonna end up looking uglier after the NFL makes its ruling.

The nation wants blood and it's at the point where Roger & his boys might take advantage of a situation that could shine a good light on their ol' law & order ***.

I want this wrapped up ASAP, but it's looking like it's gonna linger past the SB...

The most overhyped, non-story ever.

 

[nooera]

One thing im confused by in regards to a potential punishment is this : isn't there already a precedent set as to what the punishment for altering the footballs should be?

If the punishment is a monetary fine no less than 25k or whatever it is, can they really just unload the chopper and suspend BB for an entire year ? :x

That would be more far more of an injustice than this deflated football nonsense

I guess if there is indisputable evidence that BB and TB lied during their press conferences or during interviews by the investigators, all bets are off

Dudes all around the facility poking around and asking questions. I'm sure BB loves that

Turrble

Real talk i have been getting pretty discouraged that some real life football analysis has been so hard to come by this week. It's a great matchup and its mostly being overshadowed by this. Unreal

Edit: Just saw that the penalty for altered balls is 'guilty party will be subject to discipline including, but not limited to, a 25k fine'

So basically whatever

 

[DeadsetAce]

the fact that hardly anyone is discussing our potential matchup with SEA is just disheartening. we pretty much have a dream matchup for the NFL...but this story is all anyone cares about. it sucks.

 

[cash money 1999]

gotta get at them and attack early and incorporate the run more as we go . Seattle has yet to really scare me stopping the run .

 

[green rhino123]

they gotta have that eye of the tiger

 

[elpablo21]

Question for my Pat bruhs (Seahawk fan if yall didnt know lol)

How often have u guys ran no huddle..particularly early in games?

I havent watched alot of Pat games this year but what are ur usual run formations the team uses?

U guys go 5 wide often?

 

[bravelude]

i am so excited. request day off from work, planning a party, nothing big, but just so excited for the game!! i can‘t wait. i just hope this distraction actually helps New England. what are you folks doing? any NTer going to the big game? gonna be serving sam adams to my buddies haha

 

[DeadsetAce]

Question for my Pat bruhs (Seahawk fan if yall didnt know lol)

How often have u guys ran no huddle..particularly early in games?

I havent watched alot of Pat games this year but what are ur usual run formations the team uses?

U guys go 5 wide often?

we started the ravens game no huddle, or in some form of a hurry up, if my memory serves me correctly. typically we don't open with it unless it's a game where we know we need our offense to get going fast (which the SB would clearly apply to).

empty sets...plenty. lot of shotgun with the RB motioning out.

for the superbowl, i know we'll try and run. it's been the gameplan to stay in the game and beat you guys for the most part all year. so we won't shy away from the run, at least early. if we find our drives stalling out...we'll go no huddle fairly quickly i think.

that said, watch me be wrong and we throw the ball 60 times