The New England Patriots have been accused of cheating on countless occasions since their Spygate scandal erupted more than 15 years ago, and Pittsburgh Steelers legend Jerome Bettis was the latest share an allegation. It is not a very believable one, however.
During the latest episode of the “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast, Bettis and Roethlisberger discussed the Steelers’ loss to the New England Patriots in the 2004 AFC Championship Game. Bettis joked that Pittsburgh would have reached the Super Bowl if not for Big Ben throwing a pair of interceptions. Roethlisberger laughed and said, “To be fair, the Patriots cheated.”
Bettis then got a bit more serious and said there is “not even a question in my mind” that Bill Belichick’s team cheated in that game. The Hall of Fame running back pointed to one pivotal play where the Patriots stopped the Steelers on 4th-and-1. You can hear him tell the story below:
Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis say the Patriots stole their signs and cheated in the 2004 AFC Championship Game.
🎥: Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger pic.twitter.com/ng5JKhkEmF
— Jarrett Bailey (@JBaileyNFL) September 25, 2023
Bettis claimed a Steelers assistant coach made a hand gesture that called for a counter run play. According to Bettis, the Patriots saw the gesture and knew what it meant, so they called timeout. New England then, allegedly, had nose guard Ted Washington run to the sideline to tell the big defensive lineman exactly what play Pittsburgh was going to run. As Bettis recalls, Washington then “looped into the hole” and stopped Bettis on fourth down.
“They had our signs and they called a timeout to get them ready for that play because they knew it was coming. No question in my mind,” Bettis said. “I remember vividly because I thought, ‘Why is this big dude going to the sideline?’”
Perhaps Bettis was thinking of a different game, because there are more than a couple of holes in his story. For starters, Washington did not play for the Patriots in 2004. He only played in New England the season before that. Fine, so maybe Bettis was thinking of a different nose guard. But as Jeff Howe of The Athletic pointed out, New England did not call a timeout before stuffing Bettis on the play he was talking about.
Out of curiosity, I just read through the official game book:
The Patriots did not call a timeout before their 4th-&-1 stop in the 1Q. Their only first-half timeout came later in the 2Q.
The Pats called 2 timeouts in the 2H. The Steelers scored TDs the next play each time. https://t.co/WQIg94Ie0g
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) September 26, 2023
If you watch the play at the 3:15 mark of this video, you will see that the Patriots simply sold out for a running play and collapsed the line of scrimmage. Bettis also fumbled on the play, which he failed to mention.
Bettis is one of the best power runners in NFL history. Any defense would have expected a run up the middle on 4th-and-1 in that situation. It would have been far more suspicious if the Steelers faked a run and the Patriots saw that coming.
The Patriots were caught breaking NFL rules in 2007. That led to a $500,000 fine for Belichick, a $250,000 fine for the team, and the loss of a first-round pick. It also led to an insane amount of paranoia for their future opponents and provided their past victims — like Bettis and the 2004 Steelers — with an excuse for not getting the job done.
If Bettis is going to throw around cheating allegations, he needs to do a lot better with the details than that.
