Report: Footballs in Pats game vs. Chiefs were deflated
No commercials in fourth quarter of Peacock game
The special teams footballs used in Sunday’s game between Kansas City and New England were reportedly underinflated — not by the Patriots, this time — an ironic throwback to the Deflategate scandal that captivated the football world for parts of three seasons and led to penalties against the team and quarterback Tom Brady.
MassLive.com reported on Thursday that the Patriots complained to the officials during the first half of the Chiefs’ 27-17 victory that the balls used by the punters and kickers — which are specially marked, and referred to as “K-balls” — were too soft. They were tested at halftime and found to be inflated to 11 psi, the website reported, instead of the league-mandated minimum of 13.5 psi.
An NFL spokesman did not respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment. Patriots kickers were not available during Thursday’s open locker loom period. Chiefs coach
Andy Reid said on Thursday that he hadn’t heard of any issues but told reporters, “I’m not worried about all that.”
The Patriots told the website they sensed something was wrong when Kansas City’s Harrison Butker, who has put 87% of his kickoffs this season into the end zone for touchbacks, sent his game-opening kick only to the 3 yard-line. During the first half, both teams’ kickers missed field goals, including a 39-yard attempt that was Butker’s first miss of the season.
The balls were checked at halftime and fixed, the website reported. Butker made two field goals in the second half and every kickoff for both teams reached the end zone.
In the scandal that came to be known as Deflategate, the Patriots were fined $1 million and docked two draft picks and Brady was suspended four games for what the league found was a scheme to provide improperly inflated footballs for the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 18, 2015.
In a 243-page report, an NFL investigator zeroed in on two equipment managers — one who referred to himself in a text message as “The Deflator” — and concluded that Brady was “at least generally aware” of the illegal deflation plans.
The Patriots defended Brady, countering that the league’s scientific evidence was flawed. Brady appealed to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and then the federal courts; after a 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reinstated his suspension, Brady sat out the first four games of the 2016 season.
NFL BROADCAST: Saturday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers already carried significance as the first NFL game to be exclusively streamed on Peacock.
The matchup will also feature another milestone as NBC and the
NFL announced Thursday morning that the fourth quarter will be commercial free for the first time.
NBCUniversal says there will be a 40% reduction in the standard ad time for an NFL game which should result in at least 12 additional minutes of game-related content.
Rob Hyland, the coordinating producer for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” said there have been discussions about this game since June about how to make it unique and distinct from a regular NBC broadcast.
“The limited stoppages are exciting for me as someone that wants to tell the story of the game and have the time to do it,” he said.
During one of the two breaks of 2 minutes, 20 seconds, in the fourth quarter, the announcer team of Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark will delve more into some of the game’s storylines. The other will go to the “Football Night in America” studio team for their thoughts on the game as well as the upcoming slate of games for the remainder of Week 16.
The commercial-free quarter will be sponsored by Capital One, Hyundai and Walmart.