Deflating Balls Makes No Sense

The Ted Wells report confirms that the Patriots probably deflated footballs in the AFC Championship. Which definitely isn't good for them and will likely result in some form of penalty getting handed to the Patriots. Now I'm not here to discuss whether probably means that the league is 51% sure or 99% sure, or what punishment should the Patriots receive, and I'm not here to make any cheap quips that maybe Tom Brady should've studied the rule book (Scratch that, I am making that quip, Study up Brady).

I'm here asking why the Patriots cheated in an unnecessary situation, the Colts weren't going to win that game. The Patriots were able to brush off the gameplan from the 2013 AFC Divisional Game to perfection weeks before with a no-name running-back, the Colts didn't have any answer for Rob Gronkowski, and anyone who saw the AFC Divisional game knew that if Peyton Manning could throw further than 10 yards he would've used Andrew Lucks' two interceptions and turned them into scores that would've broken the Colts back and that the Patriots would do the same thing.

There wasn't an edge to be gained from cheating in the AFC Championship. Colts players said themselves that the Patriots would've beaten them with a brick and they probably could've given the way the Colts were playing.

The Patriots could've played by the rules and none of this would be an issue right now. Instead they pull this needless stunt and now their reputation is tarnished more and the league is looking at the proper punishment.