Patriots allegedly used video board to create visual distraction for opposing kickers

A recent episode of the "Paganetti and Underhill" podcast alleged that the New England Patriots employed a visual trick at Gillette Stadium to distract opposing placekickers. Host Ryan Paganetti said the stadium's video board showed a second set of yellow uprights behind the real ones, creating the appearance of four vertical bars during field-goal attempts.

Paganetti posted screenshots on social media and said his analysis of broadcasts from roughly 2012 to 2020 identified dozens of instances, including a missed 32-yard attempt by Billy Cundiff in the 2012 AFC Championship game. He noted that the effect was more pronounced on one side of the field where the Jumbotron sits directly behind the uprights, and that windy conditions sometimes made the illusion more disorienting.

"When opposing kickers lined up at Gillette Stadium, the video board displayed a reverse view of the kick, placing a second, offset set of yellow uprights directly behind the real ones," Paganetti wrote on X.

According to Paganetti, the Patriots' own kickers never faced the extra lines, as his review of 52 Patriots field-goal attempts showed no such visual alteration. He described the practice as part of the team's attention to detail.

Co-host Nick Underhill added that similar tactics are more common in college football, where rules differ, and cited an attempt by the Philadelphia Eagles to use the same method that was thwarted by the placement of their stadium screens.

"If there’s anything you could do that could even slightly throw the other team off, I think you have to at least think about it," Paganetti said on the podcast.

The claims have not been independently verified by the NFL or the Patriots organization.