Updated at 14.03

THE NEW ENGLAND Patriots strolled to a 45-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Sunday last night but reports emerged that they are being investigated by the NFL for using deflated footballs during the game.

WTHR TV‘s Bob Kravitz tweeted shortly after last night’s game that a source within the NFL had told him of the allegations.

Apparently officials were wise to the possibility during the game and took action.

With the wet weather at last night’s match deflated footballs would make it easier for the Patriots players to catch, hence gaining them an advantage.

Deflated footballs or not it’s most likely that the Pats still would have won as they were the far superior side on the night but the investigations could have serious repercussions if found out to be true.

Those reports have now been confirmed with New York’s Newsday’s columnist Bob Glauber tweeting this is the last few minutes:

However, if you look at Rule 2, Section 1 of the NFL Rule Book it states: ”the Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications.”

Thus, this would mean that, if the balls were deflated below specifications, it would not be the Pats fault.

First published at 10.34

As it happened: NFL Championship Games – Colts @ Patriots and Packers @ Seahawks

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