Bengals Marvin Lewis on scenarios for possible headset issues and experiences

Oh, no.

Admit it.

When you heard reports of Pittsburgh having communication issues during Thursday Night's regular season opener, you were worried about the suffocating coverage, erroneous ESPN updates and more closeups of Robert Kraft's sneakers. According to reports, the Patriots radio broadcast was broadcasting over the headset of the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff, preventing them from communicating with each other during most of the first quarter.

CONSPIRACY. CHEATERS.

League spokesman Michael Signora released a statement on Friday saying that the situation was "entirely attributable to an electrical issue made worse by the inclement weather." Due to league rules, when one team's communication system goes offline, the opponents must take theirs offline as well. When New England began shutting down their communication system, Pittsburgh's starting working again.

"They told us they were on the verge of shutting it off, but then I guess they got it working," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. "I don't know, but it was a problem the whole game. We almost had to switch helmets with [Patriots quarterback Tom] Brady there at the end. Couldn't get the plays in to him. It was a problem all night."

Maybe if people were so exhausted from the dubious culture in New England, this would have blossomed into a bigger story. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, understandably upset about the loss, said it was "always the case" about New England's problematic communications system. Yet, the newscycles closed and inflating commentary remained localized.

Others have claimed issues with their headsets over the years at Foxborough.

Asked about any potential headset problems playing in New England, head coach Marvin Lewis bluntly said "Not my problem. I’ve got my own problems."

Fair enough.

Per Bengals.com:

After Thursday night’s game in which the headsets of the Steelers coaches went on the blink in the first 14 minutes of the game, Lewis’s name surfaced in a 2006 report in which Sports Illustrated quoted him saying he’d been in Foxboro when his team’s headsets went out.

The Bengals actually played in New England in 2004. That’s a long time ago.

"I don’t remember 2006. It wasn’t last week or last month, I’m sure," Lewis said. "I’m sure if we had an issue after we played I’m sure we reported it to the league like you’re supposed to. It’s common practice you report it to the league."

"Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was quoted by Zimmerman as responding to Martz’s accusation by saying the same thing that happened to the Lions had happened to the Bengals as well," writes Pro Football Talk in reference to the Sports Illustrated story. "Yeah, I know," Lewis said. "Headset went out. It happened to me in Foxboro, too."'

However, Lewis, somewhat forgetful about past experiences, was far more diplomatic on Friday.

"There's certain cities and stadiums where because of their proximity to airports and the metropolitan areas that they're by, that there's more issues with frequencies, so going in, they know they have more issues all the time," Lewis said via ESPN. "So every time they upgrade headsets or our whole overall infrastructure of headsets and communications, they always try to take that into account to try to take a step beyond that. But obviously I think that industry keeps ahead of us."