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Under Bill Belichick, the Patriots earned a reputation not just for their excellence on the field, but their willingness to do whatever it took to win. Sometimes, that put them in hot water with the NFL. But at other times, Belichick and his coaching staff looked like masterminds. On Tuesday night — years after the Belichick era in New England has concluded — one person who previously worked in the analytics department for multiple NFL teams shared a clever trend from Belichick's Patriots squads that likely played a role in their success. In a post that now has over 13 million views on X, Ryan Paganetti shared how when opposing kickers would line up for field goals at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots seemed to utilize their scoreboard to create an illusion and throw the kickers off. "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," Paganetti wrote. "I found dozens of examples." Additionally, the live-streamed kicks on the scoreboard would sometimes be reversed in windy conditions, Paganetti's research showed, creating even more of an illusion for opposing kickers. Even more intriguing, however, was the fact that Paganetti's research showed that when the Patriots were the ones kicking a field goal at home under Belichick, the scoreboard illusion was not present — making it appear even more like an intentional tactic. "It is the perfect encapsulation of the Patriots dynasty," Paganetti wrote. "No detail was too small, and no possible edge was left unexplored." Much has been made of the Patriots’ mysterious “Pink Stripes.” How about yellow ones? — Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) September 2, 2026 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 Once Paganetti unearthed what appears to be one of the many former clever Belichick tactics to disrupt opponents, social media dug deeper into the trend. One post showed how the Patriots' Belichick-Tom Brady dynasty, from 2001-19, made 9.4% more of their field goals than their opponents, a massive gap. This is a really awesome find. It also helps explain this absolutely insane stat. — Barry (@BarryOnHere) September 2, 2026 From 2001-19, the Patriots made 9.4% more of their field goals than their opponents. No other team in the NFL in that span was even at +4.0% https://t.co/ZmMJ95Bfnk pic.twitter.com/EqZXdHlHPw Another post showed a kick from Ravens kicker Bill Cundiff in the 2011 season against the Patriots. Cundiff missed the field goal — and in the background, the scoreboard is creating the field-goal post illusion. The most impactful miss. Jump ahead to 1:07 to see the video board. — Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) September 2, 2026 During Belichick's time frame as head coach, the opponent field goal % for Patriots home games was lowest in the league. The margin between home team FG % and away team FG % for New England was by far… pic.twitter.com/8NUvaiN6ux Ravens kicker Bill Cundiff misses a 32 yard field goal in the 2011 season and the Patriots advance to the Super Bowl. — Savage (@Savageboston) September 2, 2026 Peek the scoreboard. https://t.co/2YiabM9HjD pic.twitter.com/vnYBD75PO8 It's unlikely that the Patriots are the only NFL team aware of the tactic to throw off opposing kickers, but given New England's dynastic run under Belichick, the strategy became one of many known by Belichick to do whatever it took to leave with a win.