Who could be behind the blame shifting in DeflateGate?

The Baltimore Ravens seem to be in the media more lately for DeflateGate than either of the parties actually involved, the NFL and the New England Patriots. This is partly because of the reports coming out that the Ravens had tipped off the Colts to underinflated balls used during the Ravens' game against the Patriots.

It is still unfathomable to me that the Ravens seem to be grabbing the larger share of headlines at this time despite Tom Brady looking to fight this in court, the Patriots eating their punishment, two members of the Patriots staff being put in trouble by the team, and the myriad of other insights that could be coming on a matter that has been brewing since January.

The report seems to contradict what the Ravens have been saying and the Ravens have come out strongly in their favor by saying that they had no part in the matter. Head coach John Harbaugh put it as simply as could be done.

I haven’t cared at all about deflated footballs, or whether they did something wrong or anything else. We’re on to 2015. We stand on every word said.

With the Ravens releasing statements about the report that they tipped people off as well as the text message from the Ravens' staffer to the Colts, the Ravens have tried to put themselves in front of this story to the best of their ability. By doing that, it means that someone is ultimately lying.

Could the Ravens be lying about what they have said or didn't say? They certainly could be, but by releasing the text message, they have given more than enough doubt to question that they tattled. Outside of the facts, it just doesnt make any sense for the Baltimore Ravens and head coach John Harbaugh to lie about the matter. If anything, the idea that the Ravens found deflated footballs in their game and the league found them in the subsequent game only goes to say that the Patriots were absolutely doing something wrong with the intent of cheating the system. However, the denial by the Ravens has been so straight forward that they just have not cared about the footballs in that sense at all and didn't think that it made a difference in the final outcome of the game.

So who could be behind the blame shifting?

The easy answer would be the Patriots. By pushing the blame to the Ravens for tattling, they get their rabid fanbase to focus less on defending Brady (a harder thing to do as more information leaks out), and more on which team broke the unspoken playground rule.

The first rule of DeflateGate is that you don't talk about DeflateGate

It is a public relations move to push the focus off the real issues and instead muckrake trouble where there really isn't any. It allows a team and a player who all have a legacy on the line in the matter to quietly go away by pointing the finger. It is the typical PR move that you see during any encounter in which serious trouble is on the line, victim shaming.