The New England Patriots’ reign of dominance over the NFL may be long gone, but the belief that they cheated during their first dynasty run certainly isn’t.
In the Patriots’ 2007 Week 1 opener against the Jets, New England was caught illegally filming New York team signals. Head coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,00, and the organization $250,000. The Pats were also stripped of their 2008 first-round pick.
More stories and accusations of the Patriots cheating illegally videotaping other teams’ signals and practices, bugging locker rooms, etc.) in the early years of the Belichick-Tom Brady era came to light following Spygate.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ legends Jerome Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger revisited allegations that New England cheated in the 2004 AFC Championship Game (New England beat Pittsburgh 41-27) during a recent appearance on the latter’s “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast (h/t Matt Ehalt of the New York Post).
“For sure, they did,” Bettis said after Roethlisberger said their longtime AFC rivals cheated. “It’s not even a question in my mind.”
Bettis cited a key play in which the Patriots stopped the Steelers on a 4th-and-1 play in New England territory during the first quarter:
“Who normally goes to the sideline on timeouts? The defensive captains, right? They told the nose guard…they pulled him to the sideline. Big 400-pound guy, he don’t want to go to the sideline and come all the way back. What he want to go to the sideline for? They yelling, made him go to the sideline and I always thought ‘What he going…’ He went all the way to the sideline and back…
“They stopped us on fourth down. That’s a critical play in the game. They had our signs and they called a timeout to get them ready for that play because they knew it was coming. No questions in my mind. I remember vividly because I thought, ‘Why is this big dude going to the sideline?'”
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After stopping Bettis on fourth down, was all Patriots from there.
Tom Brady found Deion Branch for a deep touchdown to make it 10-0. From the midway point of the second quarter onward, the Steelers trailed by at least 14 points and never got close to making it a game.
Whether they were cheated out of a win that day or not, the Steelers at least redeemed themselves a year later by winning Super Bowl 40 in what turned out to be Bettis’ final NFL game.
