I think to determine what has happened we need video of a Pats ball boy deflating the ball. He has to be looking at the camera, holding up two forms of ID with his mother in the room saying "That's my boy". Then I'll agree that the Pats absolutely cheated and need to be punished. Till then this is firmly in the realm of "It wasn't me. It was the one armed man" or "Many witnesses saw a second shooter on the grassy knoll" or "He was just a little confused when he drove off a bridge, walked across a whole island, never bothered to call from any of four houses including one right next to the bridge that was well lit, didn't notice the emergency phone near the ferry, swam across a very strong current late at night, walked all the way back to his hotel room, never called the police, was seen laughing at breakfast the next day, and never spent a day in jail" or "the CIA lost all its emails".
It's in that realm.