Report: Balls deflated; Patriots not to blame
The special teams footballs used in Sunday’s game between Kansas City and New England reportedly were 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 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 “Kballs” — 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 e-mail from the Associated Press seeking comment. Patriots kickers were not available during Thursday’s open locker loom period. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Thursday 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 percent 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.
In the scandal 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.