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The New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts renew their rivalry Sunday night in Indy. What's usually considered a big game anyway, will be even bigger this time around, even if it is only a Week 6 matchup of two teams heading in opposite directions.
We all know why. It's because its' the first time these two teams have met since the Deflategate scandal broke in the hours following the AFC Championship Game.
We all know what happened in the days, weeks and months following that unseasonably warm and rainy night in Foxboro.
But what if this whole Deflategate thing never happened?
If Deflategate never happened, the Patriots standing among the general public might be a lot better than it is now. The Patriots are never going to fully lose the stench of cheating that's attached to them from Spygate. But man, if this Deflategate thing hadn't happened, they'd be sitting pretty. Because when you sit back and really think about what they've done in the Belichick/Brady era, it's truly unbelievable. Now, Patriots haters get to add something else to the cheating list, no matter how much actual truth there is. But they got to unveil a new Super Bowl banner and shoot off a bunch of fireworks on opening night, so I don't think they really care that much about their image.
If Deflategate never happened, the Colts (as well as the fans and Indy media) would have had to just wear the fact that their team was blown out yet again by the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. They've essentially been able to hide behind this entire story, which has been handy when you consider how little general manager Ryan Grigson did to fill the Colts' gaping holes in the offseason. It also takes the talk away from the fact that the Colts have lost their last six games against the Patriots -- by an average of 21 points.
If Deflategate never happened, maybe the NFL would have done something meaningful this summer. Imagine for a second, the NFL didn't have to spend the entire summer devoting funds, time and attention to deflated footballs. Had that been the case, maybe they could have spent more time on important stuff like concussions or domestic abuse. But then again ...
If Deflategate never happened, Roger Goodell would, well, he'd still be a moron. Even if this debacle didn't happen, there's no doubt Goodell would have found something else to royally screw up. His track record has given us no reason to believe otherwise.
If Deflategate never happened, Tom Brady would be considered by many (outside of New England) as the greatest quarterback of all time. There would be no talk of asterisks, and there'd be no question from anyone anywhere that he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer. His golden boy image would still be intact. Perhaps no one "lost" more in this than Brady, which is obviously a relative term. Because, at the end of the day, he's still Tom freaking Brady, a four-time Super Bowl, an all-time great, married to a supermodel and stupid rich. So, I mean, it could be worse.
If Deflategate never happened, maybe Robert Kraft and Goodell would still be BFFs. If the business relationship between Kraft and Goodell was on Facebook, it would be now listed as "it's complicated." Despite being two of the most powerful men in sports, these two still need each other way too much to just disown one another. We're guessing Kraft would like a mulligan on his decision to go on national TV and defend Goodell's handling of the Ray Rice fiasco last season.
If Deflategate never happened, the Patriots would still have a first-round pick in the 2016 draft.
If Deflategate never happened, you could ask Patriots fans who Bob Kravitz was, and you'd probably get "I dunno, a plumber from Medford?" Kravitz got the (deflated) ball rolling by breaking the story and has become something of a household name -- especially in New England. Deflategate also made Indy Star columnist Gregg Doyel a villain in New England (just ask him, he's more than willing to tell you). He solidified himself as a professional troll since this all went down. Good for him.
If Deflategate never happened, Boston sports media and Boston sports fans themselves wouldn't have gotten to spend the summer going to de facto summer law school.
If Deflategate never happened, Patriots fans wouldn't need an expletive before and/or after any reference to ESPN. From Mark Brunell crying to Sal Paolantonio saying Brady's cheating ways would hurt Uggs sales, ESPN was a hot take factory. Now, Patriots fans use "What are you, ESPN?" as an insult they lob at media reports they don't like. Speaking of ...
If Deflategate never happened, Chris Mortensen still wouldn't know it's possible to delete a tweet.
If Deflategate never happened, the public probably would think Richard Berman is Chris Berman's well-read, highly successful (and far less sweaty) brother. Instead, he'll probably get his own Duck Boat in the Patriots' Super Bowl parade after vacating Brady's four-game suspension. He's already got free coffee for life.
If Deflategate never happened, the Tom Brady courtroom sketch wouldn't exist -- and poor Jane Rosenberg would probably be able to sleep at night.
If Deflategate never happened, we wouldn't know Bill Belichick is such a big My Cousin Vinny fan
If Deflategate never happened, we'd know little about ball pressure, psi or the Ideal Gas Law. Because let's be honest, no one actually paid attention to that crap in high school science class. There would also be far fewer self-made experts on NFL ball pressure regulations and
If Deflategate never happened, Jim McNally's bathroom habits would never have been questioned.
If Deflategate never happened, Brady's emails would still be his own private property. Instead, we got one of the more fascinating looks into No. 12's life, including his thoughts on Peyton Manning, Mark Brunell and ... pool covers.
If Deflategate never happened, we'd never get the text messages between Patriots employees Jim McNally and John Jastremski, meaning we'd never know that even Tom Brady's coworkers talk trash about him behind his back.
If Deflategate never happened, New York tabloid editors would have had to find something else to make fun for the last eight months.
If Deflategate never happened, the idea of calling someone attempting to lose weight "the Deflator" would seem like a ridiculous premise. Actually, that was always a ridiculous claim to make.
If Deflategate never happened, we wouldn't have one of the weirdest, most unbelievable, unneeded, ridiculous, over-the-top, exhausting sports stories of all time.
Hopefully, it comes to an end Sunday.
FOURTH AND SHORT
1. Four NFL teams have five wins this season. The AFC South has six wins combined through the first five weeks of the season. Of those six wins, three of them are the Colts', and all of those wins came against the other three teams in the division. Of the other three wins, two came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one came against the Miami Dolphins. What a horrible, horrible football division. Is it too late to get some sort of relegation process started?
2. The top four quarterbacks in passer rating are Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Andy Dalton and Carson Palmer. Their teams are a combined 18-1. Sometimes it is that simple. The most obvious example of that group might be Dalton, though. He's having the best season of his career, and it's not even close. Here's the most ridiculous Dalton stat, though. Known for choking late in games and late in the season, Dalton has an absurd 154.7 passer rating in the fourth quarter this season. Of course, none of this means anything if Dalton yaks all over his shoes in the divisional round. So the jury's still out.
3. Todd Gurley is single-handedly making the case for it being OK to draft a running back in the first round. Gurley's been fantastic since returning to action, especially after the Rams let him go over the last two weeks. Going up against Arizona and Green Bay, Gurley's averaged 6.2 yards per carry. His impact combined with the Rams' stout defense gives them a chance to win every week, but as we saw Sunday in Green Bay, that passing game will be the reason they'll probably miss the playoffs when it's all said and done.
4. Speaking of rookie running backs, shouldn't the Seahawks at least think about going with Thomas Rawls as their featured back, even if Marshawn Lynch is healthy? Rawls has been a revelation in place of the injured Lynch. The Central Michigan product is averaging 5.6 yards per carry with the bulk of his workload coming in the last three weeks. The Seahawks have to figure something out, regardless, as they're sitting at 2-3 and struggling like hell to get anything out of the passing game.
Thumbnail photo via Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports Images
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