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Again statistical 0

Again statistical 0

By that logic, evolution could never happen...

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/2015/01/25/patriots-fumble-nearly-impossible-rate/LCgrlUR9qgxDsIgcal9dUI/story.html

This article (obligatory warning for brief language) pretty much debunks every single assertion that Warren Sharp makes in his analysis. The tl;dr version is that it was cherry picked analysis that at best was lazy and at worst was intentionally misleading. Either way, anyone who knows a thing about statistics knows that Sharp's analysis of New England's plays-per-fumble rate is garbage.

Here are a few other points that show how ridiculous Sharp's analysis is there:
 - Because his analysis completely omits dome teams, it also omits the fact that both the Falcons and the Saints had the same spike the Patriots saw starting in 2007.
 - The way Sharp measures "fumble rate" is the number of fumbles divided by the number of possessions, which discounts special teams fumbles. Teams with a high rate of special teams fumbles  will bring the average down when compared to the Patriots.
 - Players for New England understand that if you fumble, you're likely to see the bench (case in point: Ridley). This means players are less likely to take risks for the sake of yardage, lowering the fumble rate.

To reiterate, there is absolutely no proof that the Patriots have done anything wrong. The only things that has been confirmed are that the NFL is investigating, the Patriots are complying fully with the investigation, and Belichick and Brady both deny any wrongdoing. Absolutely everything else is speculation that is either based on reports that may not be accurate (especially given the fact that there are now at least out there) or nothing. Until there's any kind of a confirmation from the NFL, all speculation is going to do is take away from the anticipation of the Super Bowl.

I think that if someone breaks the rules, then they get punished. That's is like the Laws God established is the O.T. (specifically Leviticus). I would even want my own home team (da Bears!) to be punished if they broke the rules. Like a Redemption tournament, if someone cheats, they are immediately suspended from the rest of the Tournament!

Oddly enough, 2007 was the Patriot's "big F you"* season of 16-0.  Karma killed that in the end.

Bottom line: my opinion is that the NFL needs to nip this in the bud once and for all.  Ban N.E. from the playoffs for a couple of years like the NCAA does.

(* Media term, not mine.)

No. No no no no no no. That policy in the NCAA is hot garbage please do not advocate that ever be brought to the NFL, especially for such a pathetically insignificant offense.

Yeah, I think it is time for me to leave this thread, since we have devolved so much. I think I have stated my opinion clear enough. I will leave with my final thought for today:

Whatever loyalties I may have to my team should not supersede my loyalty to the integrity of the game.

So we're all up to date on the fact that the Patriots have pretty much been completely cleared of intentional wrongdoing, right? In a report that was confirmed by the NFL, all but one of the balls were only a "tick" below the legal limit. One ball (especially a ball that was likely the one touched by the opposing team) at 2 PSI under the legal limit doesn't really condemn the Patriots of anything since there are a number of possible explanations, especially because the other balls are likely explained by the likelihood that the Patriots' balls start at 12.5 PSI, the lower end of the legal limit. Any factor, including atmospheric ones, would have brought those balls under the legal limit when they were remeasured, which means it is not the Patriots' fault. In other words, when I stated earlier in this thread that anyone convinced the Patriots did it didn't care about evidence and that condemnation of the Patriots was just speculation based on a single report, I was spot on.

Meanwhile, Atlanta has admitted to pumping in crowd noise and nobody is talking about that. There's very little media coverage and very little outrage from fans, which only serves to demonstrate that most of the people who claim to care about the integrity of the game really only care when it means they get to take a shot at the Patriots, or this would be talked about way, way more.

You seem to have forgotten that Chris was trolling us.... 

Also, according to ESPN the Patriot's owner is "disappointed" with the final report, but will go along with the league's decision.