NFL
“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.”
Bill Belichick AP Photo/John Amis
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The Patriots have won roughly 74 percent of their regular-season home games since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, and they have a 21-4 home record in the playoffs during that time span.
Bill Belichick was New England’s head coach for the bulk of that run. His hunger for winning and attention to detail often brought forth gamesmanship that pushed the limits of rules.
Earlier this week, former NFL analytics coach Ryan Paganetti posted on X about one of the advantages Belichick conjured up in the kicking game.
“I went through more than a decade of TV broadcasts and uncovered a diabolically clever piece of Patriots gamesmanship,” Paganetti wrote. “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.”
“In windy conditions, even the orange streamers on the video board appeared to point in the opposite direction from those atop the physical uprights, making the illusion even more disorienting.”
Paganetti said he found “zero” examples of the illuision occurring during Patriots kicks. He also noted that opponents made 77.6 percent of their field-goal attempts at Gillette Stadium during Bill Belichick’s 24 years as head coach, which was the lowest percentage in the league.
The Patriots made 87.7 percent of their field-goal attempts at home from 2010-2023, according to The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin.
Volin interviewed Ernie Adams, the Patriots’ longtime Director of Football research, about the subject.
Adams “didn’t have much to say,” according to the story, other than that the information was “proprietary” and that he was amused that the tactic was getting attention on social media years after Belichick had stopped coaching the Patriots.
“If nothing else,” Adams said, “we are deep into other people’s heads many years later.”
Much has been made of the Patriots’ mysterious “Pink Stripes.” How about yellow ones?
I went through more than a decade of TV broadcasts and uncovered a diabolically clever piece of Patriots gamesmanship.
When opposing kickers lined up at Gillette Stadium, the video board… pic.twitter.com/Y5nf0F5vm6
— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) September 2, 2026
Paganetti’s tweet has 16 million views and counting. It has drawn a range of reactions on X.
“I absolutely hate and love this move so much,” former NFL punter and current ESPN personality Pat McAfee said, calling the post a great piece of intel.
Former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria took issue with the post, saying that he had doubts about how true it was.
“This is not entirely true,” Fauria said. “Sounds cool bc it’s Bill and people just expect it from him. However, there are very strict NFL rules that teams have to follow. Hate to be the wet blanket and kill the narrative but no gamesmanship here.”
Former Giants kicker Graham Gano said the Patriots weren’t the only team to use the video board as a distraction.
“This used to happen a lot in different places over the years,” Gano commented. “One stadium used to zoom in on your face, can’t remember which one but it was always interesting to see what opposing teams would do.”
One thing that can’t be disputed is that the Patriots won a lot of games at Gillette Stadium during Bill Belichick’s time as head coach.
“It is the perfect encapsulation of the Patriots dynasty,” Paganetti wrote. “No detail was too small, and no possible edge was left unexplored.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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