National Football League

NFL Instagram account posts photo of ... deflated footballs

Published Jan. 21, 2015 11:04 a.m. ET

Sam Gardner

There has been a great deal of handwringing done this week over the level to which the New England Patriots inflated their footballs during Sunday's 45-7 pounding of the Indianapolis Colts.

But while we wait to hear official word from the NFL concerning its findings and potential discipline stemming from Deflategate, the league's social media feeds seem to be using Ballghazi -- or whatever else people are calling it -- as a source of comedic relief.

On Tuesday night, the NFL's official Instagram feed posted the image below with the caption, "Behind the scenes: Making the Super Bowl XLIX footballs! #SB49":

The photo, of course, features a stack of deflated footballs waiting to be laced and pumped up for next Sunday's game between the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks in Glendale.

To no one's surprise, the comment section on the photo is littered with jokes about the Patriots -- or New England fans staunchly defending their team -- and while the league would likely claim that any connection between the image and the swirling controversy surrounding the Pats was purely coincidental, one has to consider the timing of the post curious, to say the least.