Knock on wood and all of that, but it’s 5 a.m. on Monday morning after the New England Patriots won the AFC Championship Game, advancing to Super Bowl LI, and it seems we’ll get through the next two weeks without talking about a new cheating scandal. A controversy has yet to emerge.
Reports of Deflategate broke in the early hours of Monday morning two years ago following the Patriots’ AFC Championship Game win over the Indianapolis Colts. Deflategate was all anyone could talk about in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIX. It seems this year we’ll just have to resort to talking about, you know, the actual Super Bowl or Deflategate for a third consecutive winter.
Deflategate will be a hot topic again because NFL commissioner Roger Goodell presumably will have to publicly acknowledge and possibly even praise the Patriots in the next two weeks. And if the Patriots beat the Falcons in the Super Bowl, then everyone will need to play nice during the trophy ceremony.
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, though, and how about we all celebrate the Steelers choosing to blame themselves for their loss to the Patriots rather than crossed radio signals, the flu or any cheating that, more probable than not, was caused by inclement weather.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
