Sagarin wrote:
I am fairly certain that the Patriots would've throttled the Colts or the Broncos at home, deflated balls or not. The problem is, Belicheat has a well-deserved reputation, as does his protege in offensive coordinator McDaniels, who lost his head coaching gig in Denver over a scandal similar to Spygate. Knowing some of the players and trainers on the team here, they say New England is notorious for this kind of crap, like heaters not working properly on the field or deliberate mismanagement of the game clock to throw off the opposition.
This is the troubling part. Why would anyone believe that the Patriots staff isn't blatantly cheating in several other small ways if the latest allegations are true? And how deep does the cheating extend? How many games have they cheated in?
IF they deflated balls after inspection, that stretches well beyond acceptable gamesmanship into deliberate cheating. The outcome of the Indy game isn't in doubt, but what about the Ravens game? That was a tight one. A small advantage that mattered on only a play or two could've swung that game.
If Belichick is guilty, the NFL has to suspend him indefinitely, with an entire season being the minimum amount (this must exceed Sean Payton's suspension). If he is guilty, the NFL also needs to slam the Patriots, since was he was already caught cheating in 2007 or 2008. The organization can't claim ignorance this time. Since that was 7-8 years ago, I'd suggest a just penalty would be 7-8 years of a huge reduction in their salary cap, say 20-30%, with multiple draft picks rescinded in each of those years (maybe rotate odd and even rounds every year).