During Sunday’s 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick revealed that the kicking footballs employed in the first half were “underinflated by 2 2½ pounds.” Belichick deferred to the NFL to investigate the reason for this discrepancy for both teams, emphasizing that the team had no influence over it.
“We don’t have anything to do with it. Were we aware of it? Yeah, definitely,” said Belichick. “As I understand it, they were all the same. I don’t know what the explanation is. It was the same for both teams. You’d have to talk to the league about what happened on that. That part of it, they control all that.”
The initial report on the underinflated kicking footballs came from MassLive.com. According to league regulations, kicking footballs should be between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch, with officials responsible for ensuring compliance leading up to the game.
Referee Shawn Hochuli’s crew officiated the Chiefs-Patriots game, and a spokesperson for the NFL declined to comment on the underinflated footballs.
Belichick highlighted the impact of the underinflated footballs on missed field goals and kickoffs in the first half, stating, “You could see” how it affected the game.
While Patriots players privately expressed disappointment about the issue, they acknowledged that it was the same for both teams. Rookie kicker Chad Ryland, enduring a challenging season, appeared visibly frustrated in the locker room after the game.
Kansas City’s Harrison Butker, who had a 39-yard miss, attributed it to technique rather than the air pressure in the football. He mentioned that officials informed him at halftime about the underinflation and described the process of pumping them up as “nothing new” and “kind of routine.”
Butker, in his seventh NFL season, noted that he couldn’t tell the footballs were underinflated during the game. He emphasized that variations in ball feel, even due to weather conditions, are not uncommon, and players adapt to such situations.
The article also recalled the previous controversy involving the New England Patriots in 2015 when they were fined $1 million, docked two draft picks, and quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for four games over improperly inflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts. This incident led to the implementation of strict protocols by the NFL to ensure proper inflation of footballs used in games.
