NFL Postseason Megathread: Playoffs in the Post-Orton Era

[The Minsky Moment]

NFL is hiring Ben Bernanke as a special consultant in case there are any further deflation events to counter.

[alfred russel]

NFL is hiring Ben Bernanke as a special consultant in case there are any further deflation events to counter.

That might have been the most horrible thing I've ever seen written, which made me laugh. 

[Berkut]

NFL's case is starting to look as leaky as the Titanic.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/29/nfl-didnt-log-the-psi-of-each-patriots-football/

NFL didn't log the PSI of each Patriots football
Posted by Michael David Smith on January 29, 2015, 5:30 PM EST
Football Getty Images

What was the precise PSI of each of the 12 footballs the Patriots' offense used in the AFC Championship Game? We'll probably never know.

NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed today that the NFL didn't log the exact PSI of each football. According to Blandino, when officials inspect footballs to see if they're properly inflated, they simply approve them or disapprove them.

In other words, although the Patriots did play with under-inflated footballs, the NFL hasn't kept detailed records of whether those footballs were slightly under-inflated (which could be the result of a change in temperature) or significantly under-inflated (which would indicate that someone purposely let air out of the footballs).

The NFL will apply a low standard of proof to the Deflategate investigation, which means that the NFL doesn't necessarily need an air-tight case to conclude that the Patriots broke the rules. But anyone who wants the NFL to get to the bottom of this should want the NFL to be as careful as it possibly can to preserve every piece of evidence it possibly can. And a detailed log of the inflation levels of each football is a piece of evidence the NFL should have.

That is jsut stupid.

Unless the NFL does this very differently than college, which is possible, recording the PSI of each ball would be inane.

We get the balls before the game, and one of the officials (the back judge in college) checks each of them. If the pressure is not right, he corrects it himself.

So the "record keeping" afterwards would be a list of each ball showing it was at some PSI between 12.5 and 13.5. What is the point of that?

It doesn't matter whether or not "records" were kept, as long as the officials did in fact check the balls. Saying that absent a record of the PSI there is no case is idiotic.

[derspiess]

So will one of the mods just temp ban Tim on Sunday?

Seconded.

[Ed Anger]

If I was a mod, his ass would have been nuked already.

[alfred russel]

Maybe a wager should be built in. If the Pats lose, he is banned for a few days, if they win he is a mod for a few days.

[CountDeMoney]

His Prison Daddy Neil would see none of it. 

[MadBurgerMaker]

Oh leave him alone.

[crazy canuck]

Maybe a wager should be built in. If the Pats lose, he is banned for a few days, if they win he is a mod for a few days.

If the Pats lose it doesnt matter.  If they win he needs to be banned for a couple of weeks.

[dps]

NFL's case is starting to look as leaky as the Titanic.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/29/nfl-didnt-log-the-psi-of-each-patriots-football/

NFL didn’t log the PSI of each Patriots football
Posted by Michael David Smith on January 29, 2015, 5:30 PM EST
Football Getty Images

What was the precise PSI of each of the 12 footballs the Patriots’ offense used in the AFC Championship Game? We’ll probably never know.

NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed today that the NFL didn’t log the exact PSI of each football. According to Blandino, when officials inspect footballs to see if they’re properly inflated, they simply approve them or disapprove them.

In other words, although the Patriots did play with under-inflated footballs, the NFL hasn’t kept detailed records of whether those footballs were slightly under-inflated (which could be the result of a change in temperature) or significantly under-inflated (which would indicate that someone purposely let air out of the footballs).

The NFL will apply a low standard of proof to the Deflategate investigation, which means that the NFL doesn’t necessarily need an air-tight case to conclude that the Patriots broke the rules. But anyone who wants the NFL to get to the bottom of this should want the NFL to be as careful as it possibly can to preserve every piece of evidence it possibly can. And a detailed log of the inflation levels of each football is a piece of evidence the NFL should have.

That is jsut stupid.

Unless the NFL does this very differently than college, which is possible, recording the PSI of each ball would be inane.

We get the balls before the game, and one of the officials (the back judge in college) checks each of them. If the pressure is not right, he corrects it himself.

So the "record keeping" afterwards would be a list of each ball showing it was at some PSI between 12.5 and 13.5. What is the point of that?

It doesn't matter whether or not "records" were kept, as long as the officials did in fact check the balls. Saying that absent a record of the PSI there is no case is idiotic.

Yeah, but it's become the standard line now of Patriots apologists.  It's kind of like saying an accused mass murderer must be innocent because we don't have pulse rates on record for all the people who he killed from before he slit their throats.  Sure, their pulse rates are zero now, but who can say for sure what they were before.

[Sophie Scholl]

Interesting article on Marshawn Lynch.  http://www.vox.com/2015/1/31/7956685/marshawn-lynch-media-race

[PRC]

Johnny Weir doing the pre-game show pulls out the "it smells like man" quote.

[Kleves]

Interesting article on Marshawn Lynch.  http://www.vox.com/2015/1/31/7956685/marshawn-lynch-media-race

"He's not just Marshawn Lynch. He is a figure — a visibly black person — who is simultaneously working extremely effectively and performing resistance against primarily white owners that are trying to force him into working for them," he said.

[jimmy olsen]

Interesting article on Marshawn Lynch.  http://www.vox.com/2015/1/31/7956685/marshawn-lynch-media-race

"He's not just Marshawn Lynch. He is a figure — a visibly black person — who is simultaneously working extremely effectively and performing resistance against primarily white owners that are trying to force him into working for them," he said.

He signed a multimillion dollar contract to work for them.

[CountDeMoney]

Free agency?  MORE LIKE SLAVE AGENCY