Report: NFL Investigating Patriots For Using Deflated Game Balls In AFC Championship
BOSTON (CBS) -- It wouldn't be a Patriots playoff win if there wasn't a little controversy to go with it.
In the hours after the Patriots 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium, Bob Kravitz of WTHR.com reported the NFL is investigating New England for intentionally deflating game balls.
According to Kravitz's Tweets about the matter, the NFL is taking this very seriously.
Breaking: A league source tells me the NFL is investigating the possibility the Patriots deflated footballs Sunday night. More to come.
— Bob Kravitz (@bkravitz) January 19, 2015
According the NFL rulebook, the air pressure for each game ball must be between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch. The home team is required to provide 12 official game balls to the referees two hours and 15 minutes before the game starts to be tested, with the balls remaining under a ref's supervision until they are given to a ball attendant just before kickoff.
Deflating footballs on the sidelines sounds like a pretty tough task, but according to Kravitz, officials removed a ball and weighed it during Sunday's game. A deflated football is easier to grip, throw and catch, especially in the rainy conditions that were at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.
A little controversy is nothing new for the Patriots. They may never live down the 2007 "Spygate" saga, and just last week, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh wasn't very pleased with Bill Belichick's unorthodox substitutions and formations during the AFC Divisional Round.
Should the league find New England guilty of any wrongdoing with Sunday's footballs, they could lose draft picks, according to Kravitz.