Deflategate: Did the New England Patriots cheat in their bid to reach the Superbowl?

A REPORT claims the NFL has confirmed the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship.

In this Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, photo New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has a ball tossed to him during warmups before the NFL football AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts in Foxborough, Mass. The NFL says its investigation into whether the New England Patriots used underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game is ongoing after a report Tuesday night. Jan. 20, 2015, claimed the league found 11 balls were not properly inflated. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

THE NFL says its investigation into whether the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship game is ongoing after a report claimed the league found 11 balls were not properly inflated.

Troy Vincent, the NFL executive vice president for football operations, told The Associated Press the “investigation is underway and we’re still awaiting findings.”

Vincent was responding to an ESPN report that cited anonymous league sources saying 11 of the Patriots’ 12 allotted game footballs were under-inflated by 2 pounds per square inch of air. ESPN did not say how that occurred.

11 of 12 balls under-inflated can anyone spell cheating!!! #Just Saying

— Jerry Rice (@JerryRice) January 21, 2015

Vincent said earlier Tuesday he expected the probe to be concluded by the end of the week. The last thing the NFL wants after a difficult season off the field is a potential cheating scandal that disrupts Super Bowl week. New England faces the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 1 in Glendale, Arizona.

The Patriots, who beat the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 for the AFC title, said they were cooperating with the league, and a Seahawks spokesman said the team would defer to the league on the matter.

The NFL began looking into the issue not only because doctoring the footballs could provide a competitive advantage, but because it would compromise the integrity of the game.

Deflating a football can change the way it’s gripped by a player or the way it travels through the air. Under NFL rules, each team provides balls each game for use when its offence is on the field. The balls are inspected before the game by the officiating crew, then handled during the game by personnel provided by the home team.

If New England was to be DQ'd.. We'd be their replacements right??... I should probably lay off these strawberry margs

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 21, 2015

“So we get to play the game again or nah? ??” tweeted Colts cornerback Darius Butler.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on ESPN radio in Milwaukee that he didn’t like how referees who inspected balls before games take air out of the game balls.

“I have a major problem with the way it goes down, to be honest with you,” Rodgers said. “The majority of the time, they take air out of the football. That, for me, is a disadvantage.”

“My belief is that there should be a minimum air-pressure requirement but not a maximum,” Rodgers said. “There’s no advantage, in my opinion. We’re not kicking the football. There’s no advantage in having a pumped-up football.”

Whoops lol pic.twitter.com/uLxN7A5cpq

— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) January 20, 2015

Patriots coach Bill Belichick on Tuesday deferred questions about the investigation, saying reporters should ask league officials. Belichick earlier said he wasn’t aware there was an issue until Monday, and promised to “cooperate fully with whatever the league wants us to, whatever questions they ask.”

Belichick, of course, was fined $500,000 in 2007 for having an assistant spy on the New York Jets’ defensive signals.

Colts coach Chuck Pagano said he did not notice issues with the football and didn’t specify when asked whether the Colts had reported the issue to officials.

“We talk just like they talk to officials (before the game),” he said. “We have an opportunity to talk to the officials about a lot of things.”

Originally published as Deflategate: Did the New England Patriots cheat in their bid to reach the Superbowl?