NFL reveals Gillette Stadium footballs were underinflated in Kansas City Chiefs-New England Patriots Week 15 matchup

Here we go again: the New England Patriots are involved in another NFL controversy involving underinflated footballs.

According to Mark Daniels of Mass Live, the footballs specifically used for kicks in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-17 win over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium were underinflated by roughly two pounds. The first sign of an issue arose when the opening kick landed at the 3-yard line, which is quite unusual in the modern day, especially considering 87.1% of Butker’s kicks have been touchbacks this season.

It should be noted that New England’s Chad Ryland did miss a 41-yard attempt in the first quarter, yet he made both his extra point attempts, in addition to a 25-yard field goal later in the second quarter. Plus, Ryland hasn’t exactly been one of the most accurate kickers this season, ranking 32nd in the NFL at 65%.

However, his counterpart, Kansas City’s Harrison Butker, has been excellent, ranking fourth in the NFL at 96.4%. He also missed a kick at Gillette Stadium in Week 15, and Butker’s attempt came from just 39 yards, too, which is usually no problem for the two-time Super Bowl champion.

The issue was able to be corrected after multiple team complaints led to officials taking the kicking footballs, or ‘K-Balls’ inside for closer evaluation during halftime. This was when league officials discovered they had made an error with the footballs weighing just 11 pounds per square inch instead of the NFL mandate of 13.5.

The footballs were then inflated to their proper PSI, to which players seemed to notice the footballs traveling further after the break. While there is some room for error, NFL gameday officials are instructed to keep the weight of footballs between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch. Yet, they’re also supposed to weigh each ball before the opening kickoff.

In the first half, kickoffs averaged 64.4 yards per kick. The average kickoff distance increased to 66.6 yards in the second half. Punts saw an even greater boost, with the average going from 45.3 yards to 51.8 between halves.

What ended up being just a 10-point game, multiple Patriots special teams players were “visibly upset” following the team’s latest loss thanks to a factor that was entirely out of their control.