With ESPN’s report from Chris Mortensen that the Patriots did indeed have 11 of 12 supplied footballs under-inflated for the AFC Championship game, accusations and assertions are being made at historic rates. Some of the more radical proposals out there believe that the Colts, and not the Patriots should go to the Super Bowl, despite the 45-7 thumping that New England dished out in Foxboro on Sunday. Even most casual fans (some of whom root for the Patriots) believe it’s worth a severe punishment. Richard Nixon’s name has come up more than once, believe it or not.

Yet before we get carried away with the sanctimonious condemnation of the Patriots (cheating, after all, is clearly not something any successful NFL teams have ever done, especially in critical games), let’s get the perspective of one Colts player, who had this to say about Bill Belichick’s team:

The Patriots’ footballs that were reportedly found to be underweight were removed by the officials at the start of the second half. That’s ironic, considering that Tom Brady proceeded to complete nine straight passes, including two touchdowns (one of which went to a lineman).

In the second half, New England decisively destroyed the Colts 28-0, a much wider margin than the 17-7 score after the first half, when they allegedly “cheated.”

Of course, this won’t prevent New England’s many enemies from jumping out of the woodwork to call them frauds, cheaters, and everything else.

Through all of that, there is only one thing that’s actually important: How involved was Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots’ coaching staff in the supposed deflation of footballs? If they were directly involved, then it becomes a more serious offense, clearly. That will undoubtedly be the focus of the NFL’s investigation.

In the end, if you’re trying to tie together some web of conspiracy theories,  remember Dwayne Allen’s tweet. Or the stat about the Patriots’ utter dominance in the second half (when they used “normal footballs”). While the apparently blatant violation of a plainly stated rule is inexcusable, calm down before you start making preposterous claims that the Patriots belong anywhere other than the Super Bowl against the Seahawks.

Image via Keith Allison, CC By SA 2.0

You can read more stories on Boston startups, technology and innovation at https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno