The New England Patriots were accused of being up to their old tricks on Thursday night before the 2015 season was even a quarter old. The Pittsburgh Steelers had problems with their coach-to-coach headsets early on, but Bill Belichick insists his team was having the same issues.
In fact, Belichick said the Patriots seem to always have issues with their headset communications.
“We had a lot of problems,” he told reporters after New England’s 28-21 win, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. “We had to switch headphones a couple times. The communication system wasn’t very good. We deal with that it seems like weekly. They told us they were on the verge of shutting it off, but then I guess they got it working.
“I don’t know, but it was a problem the whole game. We almost had to switch helmets with (Tom) Brady there at the end — couldn’t get the plays into him. It was a problem all night.”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said there always seems to be an electronic communication issue at Gillette Stadium, but the NFL released a statement claiming the problem was the result of inclement weather and one with league-issued equipment.
Statement from NFL spokesman Michael Signora on the headset communication during the game: pic.twitter.com/5cr1ZixLph
— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) September 11, 2015
The Patriots have been accused of sabotaging headsets in the past. But would they really be brazen enough to pull a stunt like that in the wake of the report that dropped earlier this week? I’m sure plenty of you think Belichick would be.
