Reminiscent of Deflategate, ball pressure levels are in the headlines again.
Time, as the old saying goes, is a flat circle. Look no further than a report coming out of Foxborough on Wednesday night.
According to Mark Daniels of MassLive, there were issues with the inflation levels of the footballs during Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. The officiating crew stands accused of not properly inflating the kicking balls before the game, leading to issues for both teams in the first half.
According to multiple sources, the footballs that are meant for each team’s kicking units were underinflated by two pounds. After team complaints, officials took the ‘K-Balls’ into the locker room at halftime where they were discovered to weigh 11 pounds per square inch instead of the legal limit of 13.5, per sources.
The improper inflation levels first were noted on the opening kickoff, which was fielded at the 3-yard line by Patriots returner Jalen Reagor. The issue continued throughout the first half, including on missed field goal attempts on each side.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who had been a perfect 23-of-23 on field goal attempts entering the game, shanked a 39-yard try despite wind conditions being unremarkable all day. Later, Patriots rookie kicker Chad Ryland was wide left on a 41-yard try of his own. The mechanics on the attempt were apparently fine; the underinflated ball seems to have contributed to the miss.
In the locker room after the game, members of the Patriots’ special teams operation were visibly upset. It appears the officiating crew mishandling the balls pre-game had to do with that.
Per NFL rules, footballs need to be inflated to a level between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch (PSI). The balls used on offense and in the kicking game are treated differently, though.
Whereas offensive footballs are broken in during the week by each team and only handed to the officiating to be checked briefly before each game, the six kicking balls arrive in pristine condition and are marked accordingly; officials are responsible for ensuring proper inflation with them as well. Teams are not allowed to work with those balls during warmups, meaning that Sunday’s issue was not detected before the game was already underway.
Following the teams’ complaints, the inflation level in each kicking ball was increased from around 11 up to the legal limit of 13.5 PSI at the half. There were no apparent problems in the second half, with all field goals and extra point attempts splitting the uprights and the hang times and travel distances on punts increasing.
Problems with ball inflation have come up before at Gillette Stadium.
During the AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts in January 2015, the visiting team alerted NFL officials about the balls feeling “soft” after an interception. The league’s contingent led by executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent believed it had caught the Patriots red-handed during a cheating attempt, and later kickstarted an investigation that resulted in the loss of two draft picks, a $1 million fine, and a four-game suspension for quarterback Tom Brady.
However, independent follow-up analysis showed that the deflation was unlikely to be the result of any tampering and instead occurred naturally given the conditions that day. The NFL tested PSI levels throughout the 2015 season, but reportedly expunged the results at the behest of league counsel Jeff Pash; the belief is that the numbers would have exonerated Brady and the Patriots.
The Patriots ended up winning that AFC title game versus the Colts, and despite the media attention caused by Deflategate also won Super Bowl XLIX two weeks later.
Their game against the Chiefs on Sunday was not that successful. The team lost 27-17 to drop to 3-11 on the year.