The NFL moved Sunday to downplay a report that the New York Giants had detected irregularities in the inflation level of game footballs used last Sunday in their 24-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. According to the league, "officiating game ball procedures were followed and there were no chain of command issues."

We all know what happened the last time this came up. The NFL spent months sorting out claims that the New England Patriots used underinflated footballs in the 2014 AFC Championship Game, and then nearly a year litigating its discipline of the Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady.

NFL: No issues from Giants-Steelers The NFL issued a statement Sunday that said all the footballs in last Sunday's Giants-Steelers game were found to be compliant, refuting a report that New York had issued a complaint. Read more

In response to the difficulties of that investigation, the NFL developed a new set of procedures and protocols to ensure appropriate testing, documentation and enforcement of football inflation. The goal is to prevent teams from using footballs outside of the allowable inflation range in order to fit a quarterback's preference or to align better with weather conditions.

That policy, put into place prior to the 2015 season and revised during the spring of 2016, is as follows:

1. No later than two hours, 30 minutes before kickoffs, each team delivers 12 primary and 12 backup balls to the officials' locker room for testing.

2. The referee designates two of his game officials to inspect and record the PSI measurements of each football.

3. Any football inflated within the range of 12.5 PSI to 13.5 PSI is approved and its inflation level untouched.

4. Any football found to be out of the range is inflated/deflated to 13.0 PSI.

5. The gauges used are certified prior to the season by Wilson Sporting Goods. Each referee has primary and backup gauges, and the NFL's Football Operations department has extras on hand at each game. Whenever possible, the same gauge is used for each test of every ball.

5. Each of the approved primary and backup footballs is stamped with the referee's distinctive mark. Primary and backup footballs are numbered to avoid confusion.

6. The K-ball coordinator takes custody of the approved footballs and remains responsible for their security until 10 minutes prior to kickoff. Before the implantation of this policy, the K-ball coordinator was responsible for maintaining only the six kicking-only footballs that are delivered to each stadium.

7. At the 10-minute mark, the K-ball coordinator meets with a designated game official and an NFL security representative to deliver the balls to the replay station on the field.

8. The footballs are distributed to each team's ball crew with security present.

9. The backup balls remain in the officials' locker room, secured to the referee's satisfaction.

10. At randomly selected games, game balls used in the first half are collected by the K-ball coordinator at halftime. Escorted by NFL security, the balls are returned to the officials' locker room and PSIs are measured and recorded.

11. All related information is due to the NFL office in written form by noon the following day.