There was no cheating employed. You guys make it sound like teams can’t videotape opposing coaches. That is incorrect. Teams can videotape live game situations, including the opposing coaches; however, it must occur in “enclosed areas with an overhead roof,” which means the stands. That’s where the Pats ran afoul of the rules–Belichick had a guy on the sidelines because he thought he could get away with it. In fact, he told Matt Walsh as much. Belichick was arrogant enough to believe that he was above NFL guidelines, and, well, obviously, he was wrong. Still, although we won’t know this about the Jets game tape, when Goodell released Matt Walsh’s tapes, they were almost entirely from the end zone stands and other seating areas. That’s legal, guys. Nothing wrong with that.

Again, the issue is that the Pats had a guy on the sidelines after the Commish specifically told teams not to do that, and Belichick essentially told him to kiss off. That is something one never wants to do to the Big Boss Man.