NFL's Patriots claim innocence in sideline filming incident, but nobody’s buying their excuses

The New England Patriots have an image problem – once again. The Patriots play the Bengals this week, and their cameras were pointed at the Cincinnati sidelines, in violation of the league rules.

After being punished by the NFL for previous “Spygate” and “Deflategate” incidents, the Patriots admitted they were involved in a filming incident in Cleveland Sunday where the host Browns were playing the Cincinnati Bengals.

The explanation provided by the Patriots blamed the team’s television production crew for the incident, and said it had nothing to do with “football operations.” The film crew was doing a report on the team’s advance scouts, who travel on a weekly basis so they can provide a report on the team’s upcoming opponent. 

Head coach Bill Belichick was once again put in a position of having to defend the team’s ethics. The Pats had been punished for filming the New York Jets sideline in 2007 and for allegedly deflating footballs prior to the AFC championship game in 2015 against the Indianapolis Colts.

As a result of those two incidents, the six-time Super Bowl champion Patriots have gained a reputation for attempting to gain illegal edges on their opponents.

The Patriots have denied that they were looking for a competitive edge over the Bengals, who come into Sunday’s game with a 1-12 record and are arguably the worst team in the league. The Patriots are 10-3 and in first place in the AFC East, but they have lost three of their last five games and their once-potent offense has been struggling to move the ball and put points on the scoreboard.

“The sole purpose of the filming was to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road,” according to a statement from the team. “There was no intention of using the footage for any other purpose.”

Belichick categorically denied that his coaching staff or anyone in football operations had anything to do with the filming of what the team calls a feature story.

“Again, I have no involvement of this, no knowledge of it,” Belichick said, per the Boston Globe. “I really don’t have any idea of what exactly is going on. I can tell you we, as a coaching staff and I personally, have never used any video footage at all of anything those production people have done, other than what’s shown on public television or something like that.”

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick © Ron Sachs

Despite the admission and explanation, the previous Spygate and Deflategate incidents mean the Patriots have lost the benefit of the doubt. They can’t tell league officials that they have never been involved in previous incidents, because they clearly have been and received punishment for it.

The NFL may have no choice but to hit the Patriots with a fine or perhaps a stronger penalty. Anything less may open the league up to criticism for being “soft” on cheating.

The Pats turned over their video materials to the league and their claim is that there is nothing that would help the team competitively against the Bengals. However, they broke the rules, they have done it in the past, and no explanation is going to change the facts.

A general view of the New England Patriots logo inside of Mercedes Benz Stadium © Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire

The NFL must take the next step, and it will almost certainly be controversial. It seems far more likely that a significant punishment will be handed down than a pass will be offered.

That’s the way it should be for a team that has regularly found itself steeped in controversy.