Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 2

Former NFL Analyst Claims Patriots Used 52-Kick Scoreboard Illusion on Opposing Kickers

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 2

Former NFL Analyst Claims Patriots Used 52-Kick Scoreboard Illusion on Opposing Kickers

Q: How many crucial NFL playoff games were potentially altered by a diabolically clever scoreboard trick creating four yellow uprights?

No one can say how many playoff games were actually altered, and there is no verified number. The claim remains unconfirmed speculation, not an established NFL finding. What is known is narrower. Ryan Paganetti, a former NFL analytics staffer, said he reviewed kicks at Gillette Stadium from roughly 2012 to 2020 and found “dozens” of examples in which opposing kickers appeared to face a reverse-angle scoreboard image that could create the illusion of four yellow uprights. He also said he did not find the same effect on 52 Patriots field-goal attempts from those games. As for crucial playoff games, only a small number are even plausibly implicated, because the theory is tied to opponent field-goal tries in Foxborough during that period. The most cited example is Billy Cundiff’s missed 32-yard kick for Baltimore in the 2012 AFC Championship Game, but the available replay does not prove the scoreboard caused the miss. Beyond that, there is no documented evidence showing specific playoff outcomes were changed by the tactic. Paganetti’s claim suggests the possibility that more than one Patriots home playoff game could have involved the visual effect, but no confirmed audit has tied it to missed kicks that directly changed results. So the honest answer is that the number is unknown. At present, one famous playoff miss is being widely discussed, while any broader impact on “crucial NFL playoff games” remains speculative.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 2

Ryan Paganetti, a former NFL analytics staffer, said the Patriots used Gillette Stadium's video board to create a second, offset set of yellow uprights behind the real goal posts during opponents' field-goal attempts.
Reviewing more than a decade of TV broadcasts, Paganetti said he found dozens of examples and that the illusion appeared on 52 Patriots field-goal attempts exactly zero times.
His X post drew nearly 10 million views and cited Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff's missed 32-yard kick in the 2012 AFC Championship as a prominent example.
The claim remains unconfirmed: the Patriots have not commented, and the report notes similar scoreboard tactics have been used elsewhere, including by college teams such as Oklahoma State.