Big time. He basically blamed the officials saying the footballs they were given were fine, so the officials may not have inflated them properly. Or atmospheric conditions. Or game play. Or something.
His atmospheric conditions during the game excuse is blown to smithereens by the fact that the Colts balls were tested legal.
This guy is an immense cheat and liar. He got very angry when that one reporter brought up the taping scandal. His voice raised and trembled he was clearly flustered. He in one breath intimated they did nothing wrong by taping, then said everyone was doing it at the time, then said what they did was wrong and they were punished. He was flailing and gasping there.
Belichick knows they cheated and he knows they can't get caught again. He is fighting for his very football life.
If anyone thinks him being so adamant means he is being honest, remember Lance Armstrong, Ryan Braun, even Bill Clinton in the Lewinsky scandal.
Whether he was lying or not, who knows on everything he said. But he was laying smoke today like a Destroyer hoping to cloud the issue.