The Miami Dolphins fell behind 21-0 early in their game against the New England Patriots on Sunday, and conspiracy theorists may argue that malfunctioning headsets had something to do with it.
According to Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports, the Dolphins’ headset communications went down at some point during the first half.
Guess what? Miami’s headsets aren’t working in New England.
— Adam Silverstein (@SilversteinAdam) September 18, 2016
For whatever reason, this type of thing seems to happen more often in New England. It’s also possible that people pay more attention when it happens with the Patriots because of their reputation for skirting the rules.
If you remember, the opposing team had some headset issues during a playoff game in New England last season. However, the same happened during a different postseason game in Minnesota, so the issue is more common than people think.
The Dolphins were dominated by the Patriots in the first half, and electronic communications likely had very little to do with it. Hurling accusations like the ones the Steelers threw at the Patriots last year would be a bad look.
UPDATE: As it turns out, the Dolphins may have forgotten to change the battery in Ryan Tannehill’s helmet:
Tannehill helmet had battery issue. No headset issues at @GilletteStadium
— Tony Gugliotta (@NBC10_Tony) September 18, 2016
