The New England Patriots are back in the news with underinflated footballs as part of the story. Don’t blame them this time.
MASSLive.com’s Mark Daniels reported Wednesday that the kicking balls during the Kansas City Chiefs-Patriots game in Week 15 were underinflated by two pounds.
Interestingly, when Harrison Butker of the Chiefs missed an early field goal the game announcers commented on how rare it was.
And pronto, the explanation could have been kicking balls that were set to 11 pounds and not 13.5.
After team complaints, officials took the ‘K-Balls’ into the locker room at halftime where they were discovered to weigh 11 pounds instead of the legal limit of 13.5, per sources.
The underinflated footballs didn’t travel as well in the Foxborough weather on Sunday and sources indicated that’s why Patriots kicker Chad Ryland and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker missed field goals in the first half. Sources noted that the footballs traveled farther in the second half once inflated to the proper 13.5 PSI.
“They were all sitting around at 11 PSI. The threshold is usually 13.5,” a source told MassLive. “(The Patriots) told the refs they were a little under inflated or they felt that way. At halftime, they confirmed and obviously put air in them.”
Call it Deflategate, Part II.
According to multiple sources, NFL officials didn’t properly inflate the kicking balls at Gillette Stadium before Patriots matchup vs. the Chiefs.
Read more here: https://t.co/JcaNs4CodT
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) December 20, 2023
Of course, this stirs memories of Deflategate itself.
In the 2014 AFC Championship Game, it was discovered footballs were underinflated during the first half of the Patriots’ win over the Colts. That led to the lengthy NFL investigation, which resulted in Tom Brady being suspended, the team being fined $1 million and the Patriots losing two draft picks.
