Esiason Calls DeflateGate Sour Grapes: 'Colts Got Their [Butt] Kicked'
BOSTON (CBS) - Once again, a huge Patriots win is being overshadowed and marred in controversy.
The NFL is investigating New England for intentionally deflating game balls, which would've made it easier to throw and catch in the rainy conditions at Gillette Stadium Sunday night.
98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich show had on CBS Sports football analyst and WFAN radio host Boomer Esiason Monday morning for his weekly interview, and the deflated ball controversy is something he touched on.
"The fact of the matter is it's much ado about nothing. I think it's kind of sour grapes, honestly," Esiason told T&R.
"[Colts] got their ass kicked yesterday, and this [report] is from a writer that represents Indianapolis; quite frankly, a great season by the Colts unfortunately has to be clouded by some conspiracy theory about taking air out of the footballs. It's absolutely ridiculous."
None of this should take away from the fact that the better team won on Sunday, and the Patriots -- whom Esiason picked to win the Super Bowl -- are clearly the best team in the AFC.
"At the end of the year you take stock in the teams that were in the playoffs, and every team with the exception of the Patriots all had major issues, which all came to fruition in the games in which they lost, said Esiason. "The Patriots were the best team, they were the best built team, they got healthy at the right time ... so much has to do with health and where a team is at."
The AFC Championship game was pretty lackluster by comparison to the NFC game. New England won soundly, pounding the Colts once again to the tune of 45-7.
The NFC game, on the other hand, had all the dramatics.
"Unbelievable," Esiason said of the Seahawks comeback, who won in overtime after being down 19-7 with under five minutes to play in regulation.
So how did Seattle pull it off?
"So many things have got to happen [to stage the comeback]. Number one Morgan Burnett, the strong safety for the Green Bay Packers, makes the fourth interception of the day of Russell Wilson, and at the end of the play he decides to slide like the game is over. There's still above five minutes in the game! I'm not sure what he was thinking."
But there's more.
Listen below for the full interview: