Andy Reid Sidesteps Rumored Ball Concerns Conversation After Demolishing Bill Belichick’s Patriots

The New England Patriots loss and the ball-deflated chapter seem unlikely to be over. Bill Belichick’s team now sits with 3 wins and 11 losses after the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-17 victory. Meanwhile, during the game, the Pats’ sideline noticed something unusual with the ball intended for each team’s kicking unit. Later, it turned into a controversy that Andy Reid was recently asked about.

As per Patriots coverage reporter Mark Daniels, there was a problem with the air in the footballs during the Week 15 game. Rumors are that the officiating crew didn’t fill the kicking balls with enough air before the game started. Consequently, this caused problems for both teams in the first half of the game. Although the Chiefs won, the rumors aren’t subsiding anytime soon. Andy Reid also recently expressed his views on the same.

Andy Reid is not at all worried about the controversy

During the opening kickoff of the game, the teams noticed that the footballs were not properly filled with air. This problem persisted throughout the first half, affecting field goal attempts from both teams. Even though the weather conditions were normal, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker missed a 39-yard attempt, breaking his perfect record. The Patriots’ rookie kicker, Chad Ryland, also missed a 41-yard attempt, and it seems that the underinflated ball played a role in the miss, despite the kicking mechanics being fine. This resulted in controversy.

In a recent press conference, a few hours ago, Andy Reid was asked about the ball deflation concern, to which the Chiefs head coach indicated that he doesn’t really care about it.

“Ted [Crews] told me. I don’t know anything about it. We walking down and he mentioned it to me. So, I don’t think so, I’m not worried about all that”, replied Andy Reid. He further informed the media that he wasn’t aware of the Harrison case as well because that was the first time he was listening to the ball inflation issue.

Read more: Patriots’ Matthew Judon Fires Shots at Patrick Mahomes for His Officiating Stance by Reposting Controversial Picture

During the game, it was revealed that the officials made a mistake, and it turned out that the balls were underinflated by 2.5 pounds. The problem came to light at halftime, when the officials discovered that the balls had a pressure of 11 psi instead of the required range of 12.5 to 13.5 psi. Although the Chiefs faced this issue for the first time, the Patriots and Bill Belichick aren’t new to the deflated football issue.

Bill Belichick’s team was fined!

The Patriots are alleged to have deflated footballs during a game in 2014 against the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship to get an advantage. They checked one of the used balls at halftime, which appeared to be a big deal at that time.

It later turned out that the ball was indeed deflated, which led to a long investigation and legal fight. The NFL then made a new rule that allows them to randomly take footballs from games at halftime for testing. As a result, QB Tom Brady got suspended for four games, and the team was fined $1 million and lost two draft picks.

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