Overview
- Former NFL coaching and analytics assistant Ryan Paganetti posted a study on Wednesday that he says documents dozens of instances across more than a decade where Gillette Stadium’s video board showed a reversed view behind the uprights.
- Paganetti supplied broadcast screenshots and reports that the reversed feed produced an offset second set of yellow uprights and reversed wind streamers that could visually confuse opposing kickers while he found the illusion on zero of 52 Patriots attempts in the same games.
- The visual effect worked because the Patriots’ large scoreboard sits directly behind the goalposts; the team installed a much bigger board in 2023 that Bill Belichick had already said changed wind patterns inside the stadium.
- Paganetti and the Philadelphia Eagles tried to copy the technique but said Lincoln Financial Field’s screen placement made it ineffective, and the revelation has drawn praise from some commentators and criticism from others for appearing to exploit a rules gap.
- There is no reported comment yet from the Patriots or the NFL and the finding is based on broadcast evidence rather than a league probe, leaving rule or stadium‑operation changes as the most likely next steps before New England’s Sept. 9 home opener.