Sep 11, 2015 5 min read

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Steelers kicked off the NFL season at New England Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.

And it wouldn’t be a game involving the Patriots if it didn’t include some kind of allegations of chicanery.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was more than a little angry following a 28-21 loss after a foul up with his coaching staff’s headsets left them listening to New England’s radio broadcast for most of the first quarter.

“That’s always the case,” Tomlin said of games in New England.

The Steelers made NFL officials on site aware of the issue.

Per league rules, if one team’s headsets are malfunctioning, the other team also must take its headsets off until the problem is resolved.

That is where things get interesting, at least according to Bob Labriola of Steelers.com.

Labriola wrote that every time NFL officials approached the Patriots’ bench to have their coaching staff take off the headsets, the Steelers’ communication system would begin working. When officials then walked away from the New England bench, Pittsburgh’s communication system would again go out.

The NFL investigated the issue, which has been a longstanding complaint from opposing teams at Gillette Stadium, and cleared the Patriots of any wrongdoing.

“In the first quarter of (Thursday’s) game, the Pittsburgh coaches experienced interference in their headsets caused by a stadium power infrastructure issue, which was exacerbated by the inclement weather,” NFL Vice President of Football Communications Michael Signora wrote in a statement. “The coaches’ communications equipment, including the headsets, is provided by the NFL for both clubs’ use on game day. Once the power issue was addressed, the equipment functioned properly with no additional issues.”

While the coach-to-coach communication was an issue off the field, the players weren’t widely aware of it and said their communications with the sideline were not affected.

That didn’t mean, however, they weren’t having communication issues of their own.

Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady, who was playing after winning a court case to have his 4-game suspension by the NFL for his alleged role in deflating footballs in last season’s AFC Championship, ran the no-huddle offense to near perfection in the second and third quarters, completing 19 consecutive passes at one point.

Brady attempted just two passes beyond 20 yards – both incompletions – and finished 25 of 32 for 288 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to tight end Rob Gronkowski.

The Steelers were making a lot of defensive changes, shifting from their base defense into nickel and dime packages depending on the Patriots’ personnel and getting burned by it a couple of times.

On Gronkowski’s first touchdown catch in the second quarter, the Patriots snapped the ball quickly and the Steelers, who had just 10 players on the field, failed to send a defender out to cover Gronkowski.

On his second score, safety Will Allen bit on a run fake and Gronkowski had a free release at the line of scrimmage. Safety Mike Mitchell was in good position, but Brady lobbed the ball to a spot where only the 6-7 tight end could catch it.

On his final score, Gronkowski shifted wide late and drew linebacker Terrence Garvin in coverage. Brady completed a fade pattern to him.

“I thought we were prepared, I thought we were better prepared for the tempo,” said Mitchell. “There were a couple times we didn’t communicate well enough, didn’t get lined up, and they were able to get us.”

On offense, communication wasn’t an issue, but scoring at the end of drives certainly was.

New placekicker Josh Scobee missed field goal attempts of 44 and 46 yards in the first half, and Darrius Heyward-Bey failed to keep his feet inbounds when he went to the ground to catch what should have been an easy touchdown in the second quarter. The Steelers also failed to score a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, despite having first-and-goal at the New England one.

“I’d feel terrible if they completely whipped our butt,” said Steelers guard Ramon Foster. “There’s a lot of things we did that shot ourselves in the foot that complemented their game plan. We can’t give teams layups.

“I hate to quote Ike (Taylor) but Ike said this all the time, ‘Nobody messes with the Steelers but the Steelers.’ We messed ourselves up. That’s what we did. They got good players, but if you watch this over again, it’s a lot of things we did.”

Odds and end zones

ESPN reported Steelers tight ends coach James Daniels, 62, is being investigated by NFL Security for allegedly verbally accosting and kicking a Patriots fan on his way to the locker room at halftime of the game. The assistant coaches are forced to go through the stadium concourse to reach the locker room at Gillette Stadium. … Steelers tight end Heath Miller caught eight passes for 84 yards and moved into second place on the Steelers’ all-time receptions list with 540. He passed Hall of Fame receiver John Stallworth (537). Hines Ward holds the team record with 1,000 receptions.