Bruzilla
Well-Known Member
I'm still pissed about the Patriots filming the other teams. I know that cost the Eagles the Super Bowl in '04. Many players have said it was like the Patriots knew exactly what they were going to do the entire game, and they still had a chance to win. Damn you Donovan McNabb!! It's not a surprise that Belichick will do anything to win. Pete Carroll isn't squeaky clean either. These guys don't get to these positions without cutting corners somewhere on top of the hard work.
In reality, there is NO F'N WAY that 2lb under-inflated balls caused a 38 point difference in a game. I don't give a damn what anyone says. That's pure physical dominance and game planning. Go back and watch the Patriots offensive line beat the stuffing out of the Colts D-Line. That will tell you all you need to know about the game. Plus the Patriots ran the ball 40 times in that game!! That was the difference. They only completed 23 passes total for 220 yards. If they threw for 350 yards in blinding ice storms and snow then maybe there would be more here.
I don't like it, but this is the world we live in. Do you think they checked the balls psi levels in the 50's-90's when everyone was on steroids/coke/whatever else and there wasn't all this 'attention' to detail? I sure as hell don't.
In a dry game the ball pressure wouldn't make much difference, but in a rain soaked game it's a huge advantage. When was the last time you saw a team, any team, put up 45 points in a rain-soaked game? I can't remember any off the top of my head. And the reason why is it's damn hard to move a fully-inflated ball in the rain. Passer accuracy goes down, number of receptions goes down, and turnovers go up. Your play calling is also affected because you can't throw deep balls and running plays are a gamble due to fumbles. But, if you're playing with under-inflated balls, you can do things your opponent can't, which is why there are so many rules about ball pressures.
As for this being the world we live in, I hope that's not true. Once your attitude takes too big a hold with fans, the NFL is going to become no different than wrestling.