There have been several publications, many from sports media, that have called the science in the Wells report into question. I have made no secret of the fact that I think the science is a solid piece of work. And in Goodell's appeal ruling he had a nice nontechnical summary that says it pretty well. Here is an outtake from the appeal ruling:
The record also includes detailed scientific analysis by Exponent. That analysis was in turn reviewed by Professor Daniel Marlow, a professor of physics (and former chairman of the department of physics) at Princeton. The experts from Exponent concluded, and Professor Marlow agreed, that the deflation of the Patriots' footballs cannot be fully explained by environmental factors or scientific principles such as the Ideal Gas Law. As noted in the Exponent report, the absence of a "credible scientific explanation for the Patriots' halftime measurements tends to support a finding that human intervention accounted for the deflation of the Patriots' footballs." This finding is buttressed by the opinion of Professor Marlow, whom I found to be highly credible at the hearing, and who testified that he "was highly impressed with the level of detail, thought, planning and execution" of Exponent's work; that it was "really a first-class piece of work"; and that "the conclusions are correct." When viewed as part of the complete evidentiary record, Exponent's conclusions support my finding that the deflation of the footballs was the result of human tampering.
The record also includes detailed scientific analysis by Exponent. That analysis was in turn reviewed by Professor Daniel Marlow, a professor of physics (and former chairman of the department of physics) at Princeton. The experts from Exponent concluded, and Professor Marlow agreed, that the deflation of the Patriots' footballs cannot be fully explained by environmental factors or scientific principles such as the Ideal Gas Law. As noted in the Exponent report, the absence of a "credible scientific explanation for the Patriots' halftime measurements tends to support a finding that human intervention accounted for the deflation of the Patriots' footballs." This finding is buttressed by the opinion of Professor Marlow, whom I found to be highly credible at the hearing, and who testified that he "was highly impressed with the level of detail, thought, planning and execution" of Exponent's work; that it was "really a first-class piece of work"; and that "the conclusions are correct." When viewed as part of the complete evidentiary record, Exponent's conclusions support my finding that the deflation of the footballs was the result of human tampering.