Timeline: Rise and fall of the Patriots

Sept. 9 - Pats busted at Meadowlands
Buffalo Bills v New England Patriots
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In the first quarter of the first game of the season, New York Jets security removes Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella from the Giants Stadium sidelines. Instead of pressing the button that would cause the camera to explode and swallowing the cyanide pill, Estrella has the camera confiscated. The contents? Jets coaches sending in hand signals to their defense and shots of the scoreboard. With the NFL having warned against unauthorized sideline taping, the league acts swiftly, confiscating tapes from Pats for review by the league office.

By week’s end, the Jets tapes and others that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said were against the rules will have been destroyed, the Patriots will have been docked a first-round choice, the franchise will have been fined $250,000 and Belichick will have been fined $500,000. Belichick apologizes twice during the week. He says his interpretation of the rule was faulty but won’t publicly share what the interpretation is. Each effort to get him to talk about the incident further is met with a variation of the reply, “We’re moving on to San Diego,” the Patriots Week 2 opponent. The breaking loose of all hell ensues.

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