Bill Belichick said Patriots knew kicking balls in game vs. Chiefs were underinflated
"I think you can see that by the kicks. Both kickers missed kicks."
Bill Belichick and the Patriots were able to tell something was off with the kicking balls in their Week 15 loss to the Chiefs.
The Patriots coach said they were “aware” that the kicking balls for Sunday’s game were underinflated by multiple pounds in the first quarter, confirming MassLive’s Mark Daniels’s report. He pointed to some of the oddities in kicks made by Patriots rookie Chad Ryland and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, with each missing field goals in the first quarter, as reasons to believe something was off.
“Well, the officials handle that and they were underinflated by 2-2.5 pounds,” Belichick told reporters when asked if he got an explanation from officials over what happened. “I think you can see that by the kicks. Both kickers missed kicks. Butker hadn’t missed a kick all year. Kickoffs, we had two almost went out of bounds.
“So, there were six balls, it was both sets of balls, it was all six of them. I don’t know, you’d have to talk to the league on what happened with that. We don’t have anything to do with that part of it. They control all that. Then they fixed them at halftime, but didn’t do it before then, which is another question you can ask. But we don’t have anything to do with it. Were we aware of it? Yeah, definitely. But, as I understand it, they were all the same.”
It’s unclear why the balls were underinflated to the extent they were on Sunday, but the NFL rulebook states that kicking balls must be inflated to 13.5 PSI. In Daniels’s report, the Patriots’ sideline reportedly noted how one of the kicking balls felt much softer than usual following a score.
Of course, Sunday’s game isn’t the first time the Patriots have been involved in a game with underinflated footballs. The onset of Deflategate took place nearly 10 years ago following the Patriots’ win over the Colts in the 2014 AFC Championship Game, leading to investigations, federal court dates, fines, suspensions, and the loss of draft picks over the next 18 months.
Belichick was asked if he thought it was “sort of wild” another underinflated football situation could occur after what happened with Deflategate.
“Again, the things that are out of our control, I don’t know what the explanation is,” Belichick said. “But, it was the same for both teams. So, whatever that means. I mean, Butker had a perfect season going.”
The NFL has yet to comment on the matter.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com