Twitter Reacts to Steelers Coaches Picking Up Patriots Radio on Headsets

The football gods sure do have a sense of humor. Less than one quarter into their regular season, the New England Patriots found themselves in another conspiracy—albeit one that almost certainly wasn't of their doing.

During the Pats' season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, commentator Al Michaels revealed on the NBC broadcast that the Steelers coaches were having trouble communicating through their headsets. Instead, they were hearing the Patriots' radio broadcast, per NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano.

You couldn't even make this stuff up after Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham's report for ESPN's Outside the Lines, which detailed the full breadth of the Patriots' gamesmanship throughout the years. The Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur didn't find Thursday's development surprising:

USA Today's Lindsay Jones shared a screenshot from the NBC broadcast, which showed NFL security working on the issue:

NBC's Michele Tafoya reported in the second quarter that the problem had been resolved (via Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated).

Greg A. Bedard of Sports Illustrated shared a statement from the league about the situation:

"

In the first quarter of tonight's game, the Pittsburgh coaches experienced interference in their headsets caused by a stadium power infrastructure issue, which was exacerbated by the inclement weather. 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 issues.

"

However, Mike Tomlin said after the game that wasn't the case and mentioned this isn't the first time this has occurred, per Fox Sports' Jimmy Traina:

WEEI's Ryan Hannable added "even though Tomlin was heated, Steelers players said the headset problem wasn't much of an issue."

Ben Roethlisberger minimized the impact the headset issues had on the game.

"There were a few plays (with the radio out), but that happens," he said, per Burke. "I didn't think there were too many issues with communication."

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters he's experienced similar issues at Gillette Stadium, per Fox Sports' Ross Jones: 

And according to Bleacher Report's Jason Cole, Belichick remained in the dark regarding the complications: 

Rather than getting upset with the situation, ESPN.com's Robin Lundberg and baseball writer Molly Knight sat back in admiration:

Awful Announcing, meanwhile, might have discovered the real reason NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell opted to not attend Thursday's game:

While everybody had fun pointing their fingers at the Patriots, former quarterback Jim Miller explained on the SiriusXM NFL Radio Twitter account that the explanation is more innocuous:  

CSN New England's Tom E. Curran also provided some information on the source of the issue:

Don't be surprised from this point forward, though, if each of New England's opponents decides to employ a signal-jammer on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.