Like millions of Americans I have no idea what happened
with regard to the deflated footballs the Patriots used during the first half
of the AFC championship game. On the
surface, it looks bad for the Patriots.
Their footballs were deflated.
The Colts, on the other hand, did not suffer from this problem. It is easy to conclude therefore that the
Patriots cheated. Playing with
underinflated footballs gives you some advantages, namely that it is easier for
everyone to grip and hold on to the ball.
So the Patriots launched their own internal explanation
and found nothing. What a surprise. But before we consign them to the sports
firing squad, we have to ask ourselves one simple question. Is there an explanation for the Patriots having
underinflated footballs naturally while the Colts did not? That is, is there an explanation for this
which does not involve the Patriots cheating?
Surprisingly yes, and you do not need to perform mental gymnastics for
it either.
The required PSI for footballs is between 12.5 to
13.5. Anything in that range is
good. So here is what could have
happened. The Colts might have preferred
13.5psi while the Patriots might have preferred 12.5psi. Andrew Luck has big hands so this is quite
possible. During the course of the first
half, the wet cold weather conditions caused air pressure in all footballs to
drop. A number of scientists have come
forward to say this is precisely what happens.
Now it’s halftime.
Let’s say the pressure dropped around 1psi during the first half. Because the Colts inflated at 13.5psi their
footballs are now at 12.5psi which is still within the range. But the Patriots who had theirs set to
12.5psi now have footballs at 11.5psi or thereabouts. They are now under the required psi. So the officials inflate the footballs back
to 12psi to get them up to speed.
With this explanation, the Patriots have done nothing
wrong and the officials readjusted correctly during halftime. I believe this is the most likely explanation. Consider this. Had the Patriots intended to cheat, surely
they would have known NFL officials would check the footballs again at
halftime. Thus, they would have known
they would be caught. It would make much
better sense to deflate the footballs AFTER the halftime check. That way, the Patriots could have played with
deflated footballs in the second half with no one ever being the wiser. By “cheating” prior to kickoff, the Patriots
only allowed themselves one half of advantage:
significant, but also stupid since they would have been found out at
halftime.
I think this explanation could be verified now quite
easily with two pieces of information.
1. What
psi level did the Colts inflate their footballs too for the game?
2. What
was the Colts psi level at halftime?
This will tell us whether the natural “Patriots are
innocent” explanation has any merit without having to wait for the full NFL
report.
