Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Early evidence has concluded that the New England Patriots used underinflated footballs during Sunday’s AFC Championship victory, though it’s still unclear whether the balls were intentionally deflated (or if the Pats knew). “While the evidence thus far supports the conclusion that footballs that were underinflated were used by the Patriots in the first half,” the NFL said in a statement Friday, “the footballs were properly inflated for the second half and confirmed at the conclusion of the game to have remained properly inflated.” The NFL said the goal of its “investigation will be to determine… whether any noncompliance was the result of deliberate action.” The league said at least 40 interviews have been conducted and video evidence collected.