More sneaky sneaky by the Cheatriots?
Much has been made of the Patriots’ mysterious “Pink Stripes.” How about yellow ones?
— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) September 2, 2026
I went through more than a decade of TV broadcasts and uncovered a diabolically clever piece of Patriots gamesmanship.
When opposing kickers lined up at Gillette Stadium, the video board… pic.twitter.com/Y5nf0F5vm6
I was just reading about this & was going to post it.
Patriots devised perfect way to mess with opposing field-goal kickers
Football fans with end zone seats have tried over the years to come up with ways to distract a kicker who is attempting a field goal. The Patriots apparently devised something far more effective than a sign with an arrow pointing left or right.
Ryan Paganetti, an analytics expert who has worked for the Eagles, Jaguars, and Raiders, has spotted a tactic that he has dubbed “diabolically clever.”
When opposing teams prepare to attempt a field goal, the video board shows a reverse view of the formation, with the goal posts in the image creating four distinct yellow lines for the kicker to see.
When wind is an issue, the flags fly one way on the actual goalpost, and they move in the opposite direction on the two goalposts in the image on the board behind the target.
Paganetti says he watched “more than a decade” of TV broadcasts of Patriots home games. He saw “dozens” of examples of the optical illusion being employed for field-goal tries by the visiting teams. For 52 Patriots field-goal attempts he saw, the image never appeared in the video board the kicker was facing.
LIVE WELL ~ LOVE MUCH ~ LAUGH OFTEN
The most iconic field goal miss of that era, sending the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Look at the video board at 1:07! pic.twitter.com/AqHySkGbfq
— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) September 2, 2026
badgervike wrote:
The screen posts were to the other side from that view.
It's amazing at how many different ways they have been found to cheat the game, there was just no end to it. Think of them and the Houston Astros and have to wonder how many other teams cheated their way to titles.
JR44 wrote:
It's amazing at how many different ways they have been found to cheat the game, there was just no end to it. Think of them and the Houston Astros and have to wonder how many other teams cheated their way to titles.
One in particular comes to mind....
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
As mentioned in the twitter thread, at the time it was legal, so they weren't actually cheating. Wish the Vikings had thought of it 😏
RS_Express wrote:
As mentioned in the twitter thread, at the time it was legal, so they weren't actually cheating. Wish the Vikings had thought of it 😏
Not sure it would be as effective in a dome.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
JR44 wrote:
It's amazing at how many different ways they have been found to cheat the game, there was just no end to it. Think of them and the Houston Astros and have to wonder how many other teams cheated their way to titles.
I'm with you on a lot of the stuff the Pats did, and on ALL of the stuff the Stros did, but this particular thing with the field goal kicking to me feels more like a brilliant move rather than 'cheating'. It reminds me of when the Pats voluntarily took 5 yard penalties to run clock before punting the ball away for a season or two, before the NFL closed that loophole.
New England had some very smart people working for them in those days and I think they got so good and finding edges like this, they either forgot or didn't care where the line was. That's when you get spygate, deflategate, vrabelgate, etc. They also showed no contrition whatsoever for any of it, which makes the whole thing smell worse to me.
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