NFL Postseason Megathread: Playoffs in the Post-Orton Era

[derspiess]

I bet he likes Tater Tots

In all seriousness, don't assume that the coaching staff is in any way happy with him.  If he does not step up this year, there may be a change.  If I ever run into you at the Xenia Dollar Tree, I'll tell you more.

[frunk]

It's still mind-boggling to me that the NFL lets teams bring their own balls.  Is there another professional level sport (other than golf) where the competitors get to bring their own balls?

[Grey Fox]

It's not a ball but Home team provided a sufficient amount of pucks for every game in the NHL.

[Ed Anger]

I bet he likes Tater Tots

In all seriousness, don't assume that the coaching staff is in any way happy with him.  If he does not step up this year, there may be a change.  If I ever run into you at the Xenia Dollar Tree, I'll tell you more.

marvin needs to kick him in the balls

[derspiess]

A couple coaches may have already done that-- WITH WORDS.

[derspiess]

It's still mind-boggling to me that the NFL lets teams bring their own balls.  Is there another professional level sport (other than golf) where the competitors get to bring their own balls?

Not that big of a deal IMO.  A team should be able to break in and condition their footballs to the QB's liking, within league rules of course.  And the break-in process can take weeks.

[frunk]

Not that big of a deal IMO.  A team should be able to break in and condition their footballs to the QB's liking, within league rules of course.  And the break-in process can take weeks.

If there was a standard league football that was supplied by the league wouldn't it be even easier to get used to them?

[derspiess]

Not necessarily.  Different QBs have different preferences for how a football is conditioned.  Some are probably just mental, but others are related to the size of their hands, how they are able to grip, etc.

A good analogy is baseball players' preferences for their fielding gloves and how they are broken in.  I guess bats would work as well-- an MLB player doesn't just take a bat straight from the factory and use it.

[Admiral Yi]

Gotta bone that bat first.

[frunk]

Not necessarily.  Different QBs have different preferences for how a football is conditioned.  Some are probably just mental, but others are related to the size of their hands, how they are able to grip, etc.

Size of their hands?  What, are they shaving material off the ball?

[derspiess]

Size of their hands?  What, are they shaving material off the ball?

Kinda.

[Berkut]

I actually think all the crap about "conditioning" the balls is pretty much BS, at best it is just psychological. If everyone had to use the same balls, inflated, prepared, and conditioned the same way, they would all get used to it just fine. It is only a "thing" because they are told they can "condition" them to their liking.

That being said, I never understood that the process was

1. Provide new balls to officials.
2. Officials check and inflate them.
3. Give balls back to team for "conditioning".

This seems like a recipe for letting the teams screw with the inflation. Why not let them do whatever they want to do (within the rules) to the balls, then prior to the game they are given to the officials to be checked, then at that point they should never go out of the control of the officials again. Why leave that window open for cheating cheaters like the Pats to let air out of the ball while "conditioning" them?

[derspiess]

That isn't the process.  The balls are conditioned days or weeks prior to the game.  And then on game day they just sit in the bag on the sideline during pre-game and the game.  Occasionally an NFL ball boy will take some out and/or put some back in the bag.  If you just require that the balls remain on the sideline the whole time, shouldn't be a big deal IMO.  If they're trying to mess with the inflation in broad daylight someone will see them.

FWIW I know the Bengals don't fuss over their footballs too much.  They had one in their bag with a Titans logo on it all of last season

[Berkut]

The process includes the balls going back to the team after they are checked by the officials and before they make their way to the sideline. This is the window that the Pats organization used to alter the balls illegally. Supposedly, this is the window where the team is allowed to further condition the balls (presumably in addition to whatever conditioning they do prior to gameday itself).

What I don't understand is what conditioning could possibly need to be done at that point.

[grumbler]

The whole idea of having some arbitrary inflation standards makes no sense.  Neither the balls the Colts used nor the one New England used met the NFL inflation requirements once they were on the cold field; only one ball from each team was tested and passed the minimum limits.  Though, to be sure, all of the balls tested (except the one the Colts deflated themselves to draw attention to the deflation issue) were only slightly below the minimum.

Dunno why Goodell is trying to be such a hardass over this issue, when there are more egregious examples of not just cheating, but also beating, that he is ignoring.  Like I said, I think that he is going so ludicrously overboard on this issue that some judge is going to declare his stand obviously motivated by animus and pretty much undo all of these penalties.