How deep can it possibly get?

[stuckincincy]

..."Fate has a weird way of twisting its way around the world, and NFL officials forgetting to bring footballs and pressure gauges to the Patriots game nearly a year after Deflategate broke is just too perfect."...

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25457101/nfl-needed-police-escort-after-forgotten-footballs-pressure-gauges-at-patriots-game

[Night Train]

Another opportunity for Kraft to demand an apology.

[YardRat]

Unbelievable.

[Victor7]

What an "amazing" coincidence !

[Topas]

Guys, really!?!?! Everything arrived 1h prior to the game. The title sounds like they never fetched it.

And with regard that only happening with the Patriots:
No, only with them this coincidences are reported. Who would report if his happened in a regular season game of the Jags vs the Lions !?!?! Nobody. But this gets clicks.

Honestly, I hate the Pats and Bellicheat as much as the next guy. But this reporting is ridiculous. Billicheat once said, that if a plane is delayed that a team uses to go to its road game, then nobody cares. Only if the road game is New England, then the story is how the Patriots now even manage to get the planes of their opponents delayed.

Actually this is pretty much the only statement that I agree with him.

[YardRat]

Belichek playing the victim card...nice. I would think after the **** storm over the balls last season that ANY incident like this would be reported somehow, somewhere, regardless of the teams involved.

[OpIv37]

Guys, really!?!?! Everything arrived 1h prior to the game. The title sounds like they never fetched it.

And with regard that only happening with the Patriots:
No, only with them this coincidences are reported. Who would report if his happened in a regular season game of the Jags vs the Lions !?!?! Nobody. But this gets clicks.

Honestly, I hate the Pats and Bellicheat as much as the next guy. But this reporting is ridiculous. Billicheat once said, that if a plane is delayed that a team uses to go to its road game, then nobody cares. Only if the road game is New England, then the story is how the Patriots now even manage to get the planes of their opponents delayed.

Actually this is pretty much the only statement that I agree with him.
Waaahh. They cheated multiple times in multiple ways. That's why people are suspicious. If they don't want like the suspicion, they never should have given people reason to be suspicious in the first place. It's on them.

[k-oneputt]

Don't worry the Pats are getting their Kryptonite this week in Denver,........Ed Hochuli.

The NFL can't possibly hand another Super Bowl trophy to the Pats after deflategate.

[YardRat]

Referee Connected to Deflategate Will Officiate Super Bowl 50

http://nesn.com/2016/01/report-referee-connected-to-deflategate-will-officiate-super-bowl-50/

Also...

http://www.businessinsider.com/super-bowl-referee-has-patriots-fans-losing-minds-2016-1

Blakeman's name was mentioned extensively in the Ted Wells report as the official who took the air pressure of the balls.

Amazingly, Patriot's fans are pissed about this, because deflategate aside they feel there have been other instances where Blakeman has 'robbed' them.

Additionally, Blakeman officiated a game between the Patriots and Carolina Panthers in 2013, when Tom Brady threw a game-ending interception, only to have a flag thrown. Instead, the refs gathered and decided to take away the flag, thus ending the game as the Panthers won. Brady notoriously freaked out on Blakeman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zss8xNJ-BrU) over the play.

[Mike]

Waaahh. They cheated multiple times in multiple ways. That's why people are suspicious. If they don't want like the suspicion, they never should have given people reason to be suspicious in the first place. It's on them.

Every Team Cheats.
Every team Has cheated multiple times and gotten caught doing it...
The difference is that the other 31 teams haven't gone to 10 championship games & 6 SB with 4 wins in 15 years.

The Pats have humiliated the competition for almost 2 decades and this is the only reason their cheating stands out.

[Mike]

Historically the Broncos are one of the Biggest Cheaters in NFL history with 53 Major Infractions compared to the Pats 20.

If your looking for 'the prefect competition' where opponents don't cheat, players don't get injured and refs don't screw up entire games than your SOL. Cheating happened even in figure skating.

http://yourteamcheats.com/

[YardRat]

That website is a joke, poor butt-hurt Patriot fans. It's the equivalent of OJ Simpson declaring "Everyone's a criminal...look how many times Ron and Nicole were caught jay-walking!"

[DynaPaul]

Historically the Broncos are one of the Biggest Cheaters in NFL history with 53 Major Infractions compared to the Pats 20.

If your looking for 'the prefect competition' where opponents don't cheat, players don't get injured and refs don't screw up entire games than your SOL. Cheating happened even in figure skating.

http://yourteamcheats.com/

That site is so bogus. They have minor things from the Broncos amplified while the Patriots cheating is entirely down played.

[OpIv37]

Every Team Cheats.
Every team Has cheated multiple times and gotten caught doing it...
The difference is that the other 31 teams haven't gone to 10 championship games & 6 SB with 4 wins in 15 years.

The Pats have humiliated the competition for almost 2 decades and this is the only reason their cheating stands out.
There have been several other excellent teams during the Pats run, mainly the Steelers and Giants. The Cowboys won 3 in 5 years in the mid 90's (and that team was full of scumbags). SF was dominant in the late 80's/early 90's.

There have been many dynasties in other sports over the years: the Bulls with Jordan, the Celtics of the 60's, the Bruins and Candiens in the 60's and 70's. The Yankees. I know I'm missing some.

The only one of those dynasties that ever got accused of cheating is the Patriots, so I don't buy the jealousy argument one bit. The Pats got caught cheating multiple times in multiple ways that gave them clear advantages on the field.

[Mike]

There have been several other excellent teams during the Pats run, mainly the Steelers and Giants. The Cowboys won 3 in 5 years in the mid 90's (and that team was full of scumbags). SF was dominant in the late 80's/early 90's.

There have been many dynasties in other sports over the years: the Bulls with Jordan, the Celtics of the 60's, the Bruins and Candiens in the 60's and 70's. The Yankees. I know I'm missing some.

The only one of those dynasties that ever got accused of cheating is the Patriots, so I don't buy the jealousy argument one bit. The Pats got caught cheating multiple times in multiple ways that gave them clear advantages on the field.

You don't have to buy the argument

consider these simple facts:
1) Parity was put in place to insure that a couple of teams like the Steelers of the 70's, 49ers of the 80's, etc didn't dominate
2) other sports are behind the 8 ball in terms of parity. The Yankees for instance have a payroll almost 10x higher than the lowest payroll in mlb
3) Pats Dominanc is unprecedented in Parity League.

As for cheating
1) every team cheats. Heck even Rice (at one time) admitted to using sticky adhesive to help him catch balls. Many NFL QBs have talked about how they manipulated balls -like putting clay on them- to help them during games
2) Steeling signals is nothing new. In fact it's 100% legal and all teams have been doing it. Filing/taping signals is also legal as long it's from a designated taping locations. In 2006 the taping rules were changed and in 2007 the Pats were caught breaking these rules NOT becuase of taping signals (which is Legal) but Where they taped signals
3) Deflategate was a sting operation. There was no process followed and as a result a Court of Law Dismissed the Case. Lastly, 3/4 Colts balls are also low psi.

Pats are having a super dynasty which they won't see for another 100+ years. Let them have theirs and hope to god it happens to us. And when it finally does (probability insures it eventually will) don't feel bad when Pats fans call us names.

[YardRat]

The rules changes have completely obliterated the concept of parity...it simply doesn't exist.

[DraftBoy]

The rules changes have completely obliterated the concept of parity...it simply doesn't exist.

Can you expand what you mean?

[YardRat]

Can you expand what you mean?

The loosening of the rules that overwhelmingly favor the offense over the defense has diminished the effect of the draft, waiver wire...even the salary cap mechanisms that have been put in place to attempt to achieve parity. If you've got a QB, you've got a chance...if you don't you don't.

[YardRat]

If the current QB's had to play under the rules of the '70's and '80's, Brady's career would probably more closely resemble Archie Manning's, not Joe Montana's. Manning? Dan Fouts or Johnny Unitas.

[DraftBoy]

The loosening of the rules that overwhelmingly favor the offense over the defense has diminished the effect of the draft, waiver wire...even the salary cap mechanisms that have been put in place to attempt to achieve parity. If you've got a QB, you've got a chance...if you don't you don't.

I don't mean to diminish what Manning is, because he had a good game yesterday, but he's a shell of what he was. Denver is in the SB because of their defense.

In fact every team that played yesterday had an incredible defense, compared to only two of the four teams having QB's that I would consider to be currently Top 5 at their position.

I understand the many of the rules now favor the offense (targeting, roughing the passer, pass interference) but I'm not sure I fully get your point about the defense being diminished considering the defenses that made the championship games.

[YardRat]

I won't argue about the defenses at all, I agree but let's face it...Manning would have washed out of the league a few years ago if he didn't have the new rules in his favor.

There's a reason that 12 of the last 15 QB's to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl are three guys...a reason that Brady can contend for a Super Bowl every year, for 15 years, surrounded by sub-par talent. That reason is certainly not parity.

[trapezeus]

other dynasties won because of talent. and that was exciting. a stacked team playing well is entertaining. the pats were always a bunch of castoffs and it didn't make any sense that one coach could be so much smarter than all the other coaches in history and to do it without a run game, to do it without defense. they suck. it's not about deflate gate. they have a system where even matt cassel looked ok for a year. and their player leave and suck on other teams, but players who come back are good again. if that's not a huge red flag, then people are being blind.

[DynaPaul]

As for cheating
1) every team cheats. Heck even Rice (at one time) admitted to using sticky adhesive to help him catch balls. Many NFL QBs have talked about how they manipulated balls -like putting clay on them- to help them during games
2) Steeling signals is nothing new. In fact it's 100% legal and all teams have been doing it. Filing/taping signals is also legal as long it's from a designated taping locations. In 2006 the taping rules were changed and in 2007 the Pats were caught breaking these rules NOT becuase of taping signals (which is Legal) but Where they taped signals
3) Deflategate was a sting operation. There was no process followed and as a result a Court of Law Dismissed the Case. Lastly, 3/4 Colts balls are also low psi.

Pats are having a super dynasty which they won't see for another 100+ years. Let them have theirs and hope to god it happens to us. And when it finally does (probability insures it eventually will) don't feel bad when Pats fans call us names.

1) Using a little bit of stickum on a glove or clay on a ball is hardly what I'd consider an egregious act of cheating. The WR still has to get open and the QB still has to make a play. Video taping a team and then deciphering everything they do is on a whole other level. Try again.

2) No it isn't new but the kicker here is that a team might only be able to figure out a few of those signals. In the Patriots' case they had all of the signals figured out and a counter play at the ready. Anyone can look like a pro with that and don't give me that crap about them being 30 feet where they were supposed to be. They were told to stop and didn't... period. Have you heard of ANY other team in this league video taping? No. No you haven't. So please stop the semantics and trying to lawyer your way through their transgressions.

3) DeflateGate WAS a sting operation and trumped up. Why? Because there was so much pressure on Goodell for screwing up SpyGate that the owners wanted some other form of punishment. Unfortunately it blew up on him but the overall picture here is akin to how they got Al Capone. They knew Capone was doing all of this shady crap but ultimately got him on tax evasion because it was too difficult to get solid proof on anything. That's what DeflateGate is for the Patriots. Their Al Capone moment. Everyone knows there are a lot of things they're doing to skirt the rules but it's too hard to prove so deflated footballs served for the moment.

On your final point, I pray to god the league doesn't see another team like them ever again and that Brady and Belichick are punished by the Hall of Fame committee since Goodell doesn't have the balls to Pete Rose him out of the game like he should have the first time. That's right, Belichick should have been permanently banished especially in light of what happened to Sean Peyton for that inane BountyGate crap.

End of line.

Paul