Are the New England Patriots being investigated? What seemed like a silly rumor floating around the internet about the New England Patriots film crew doing something wrong over the past weekend may not be too far off base after all.
Now the question is, did the Patriots illegally tape the Bengals during last week’s Bengals vs Browns game to try and pick up some play calls, or was it just a misunderstanding?
Video mistake?
It was being reported on Monday that the New England Patriots video crew was caught taping the Cincinnati Bengals play-calling during the Bengals vs Browns game.
Just hours later, a report was released that debunked those claims, indicating that, while the Patriots did have an advanced scout at the Bengals game, he wasn’t doing the filming – he was being filmed for a Do Your Job documentary feature that the team routinely produces.
Patriots’ advance scout was not filming but being filmed, per a league source. He was being filmed for a feature the team produced called, "Do Your Job." The video crew was credentialed by the Browns to shoot video in the press box and their PR person was aware, per the source
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 9, 2019
Okay, end of story, right? Wrong!
Spy-Gate 2?
On Tuesday, December 10, Pro Football Talk indicates that Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic is reporting unnamed sources who have seen the video and “it shows about eight minutes of footage focusing on recording the Bengals sideline.”
Video created by Patriots' crew reportedly focuses on Bengals' sideline for eight minutes https://t.co/1AtY718NCN
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) December 10, 2019
The video allegedly includes “a direct view of the sideline as players run on and off the field and coaches make signals for plays.” If this is true, it could be very damaging for the Patriots.
First off, as any common sense NFL fan would think – why record the Bengals? That game should be an easy win anyway!
Nevertheless, no matter what team it is, you can not record them or their coaches calling plays or switching up the play cadence during a game.
It seems that the source used by The Athletic is very credible as CBS Sports is indicating that the New England brass is admitting that they may have “inappropriately filmed the field from the press box,” on Sunday.
The club is insisting that the violation was unintentional and that there was no malicious purpose behind it.
This story isn’t over quite yet, especially since these two teams are meeting up this weekend.