For about three minutes on Monday it appeared as if maybe the New England Patriots might be facing another “Spygate” type of situation thanks to the, get this, the Cincinnati Bengals.
Their first-year head coach, Zac Taylor, got the ball rolling during his Monday press conference when he answered a question from a reporter about the Patriots (who the Bengals face next Sunday) having someone in the Cleveland press box filming their play calls in Sunday’s game against the Browns. Taylor said the league was aware of it and is looking into it so he wouldn’t comment.
Moments later it was reported that the Patriots did have someone shooting video in the press box on Sunday but that it was for a documentary they were doing on one of their scouts and that they got clearance from the Browns to shoot the video and that they gave all the video to the NFL for them to look at.
Which is all way too funny.
The Bengals actually think teams need to videotape their play calling to gain an advantage? The 1-12 Bengals?
ESPN’s Mina Kimes perfectly summed it up:
Yeah, nobody is sweating the Bengals for their play calls. Especially not Bill Belichick and the Patriots.
But here’s another thing – it’s 2019 and most plays are called into the QB’s speaker in his helmet while the coaches cover their mouths with their play sheets, so you’re not going to learn anything even if you did shoot some videos.
Twitter had thoughts on this quick “scandal”:
