Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is alleged to have employed a "diabolically clever" tactic to create optical illusions for opposing kickers at Gillette Stadium. Ryan Paganetti, who has worked in analytics for several NFL teams, conducted an investigation into the alleged gamesmanship.
Paganetti's findings, shared on social media and discussed on the Paganetti and Underhill podcast, suggest that the Patriots, under Belichick's direction, used the stadium's video board to display a reverse image of the field's uprights. This created the illusion of multiple sets of goalposts, with an offset, secondary set of yellow uprights appearing directly behind the actual ones.
This trick was reportedly easier to execute on one side of the field, where the jumbotron was directly behind the goalposts. Paganetti analyzed over a decade of game footage, from approximately 2012 to 2020, and found dozens of examples where this illusion was potentially employed. He stated that in windy conditions, even the orange streamers on the video board appeared to point in the opposite direction of the physical uprights, enhancing the disorientation for opposing players.
"If you quickly looked at it as a kicker, it would almost certainly cause some level of hesitation because it looked so weird," Paganetti said on the podcast, describing how the visual deception could affect a kicker's timing and confidence.
Crucially, the tactic was allegedly only used when visiting teams were attempting field goals. Paganetti reviewed 52 field goal attempts by Patriots kickers and found no instances where the extra bars were displayed on the screen. "They legitimately did it every single chance that they could. They consistently did this over and over again," he stated.
Paganetti described the tactic as a "perfect encapsulation of the Patriots dynasty. No detail was too small, and no possible edge was left unexplored."
While the Patriots are accused of using this method, the Philadelphia Eagles reportedly attempted to replicate the strategy. However, Paganetti noted that the placement of their video boards at Lincoln Financial Field made the effect largely ineffective.
Belichick, who coached the Patriots for 24 seasons and won six Super Bowls, was known for his relentless pursuit of any competitive advantage. His tenure with the team was marked by several controversies and official NFL investigations, including the "Spygate" scandal in 2007, where a Patriots video assistant was caught illegally taping opposing coaches' signals, and the "Deflategate" controversy in 2015 concerning under-inflated footballs.
Belichick is currently entering his second season as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels football team.