Nothing went right for the Patriots on Monday night.
The previously struggling Bears entered Foxborough and humbled New England to the tune of a 33-14 shellacking from start to finish. The Patriots’ loss inspired questions about Bill Belichick’s continued coaching aptitude and even might have ignited a quarterback controversy between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe.
But it was one pass play with Jones and Bears’ safety Jaquan Brisker — who Jones had inadvertently kicked in the groin only a few plays earlier — that NFL fans still seem fixated on. You see, after the kick to the groin, Brisker would pick Jones off with one hand. A dynamite, exciting play for the Bears, no doubt. Or was it?
According to some Twitter sleuths, Jones’ pass might have been altered by the hovering SkyCam wire from the broadcast. (Note: Emphasis on might.) Check it out for yourself:
Is it just me or did Mac Jones' INT hit the line that the sky cam is attached to? Wasn't underthrown by much. This HAD to affect it. Sorry baht it. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/zMC0tncJKC
— Big Jim (@BillsFilm) October 25, 2022
Hmm. I don’t know about that at first blush. The specific camera angle there, to me, creates a bit of an illusion.
The play slowed down doesn’t make things any more clear.
A Bills fan here found that Mac Jones' interception might have hit the SkyCam wire. I slowed the video down as much as possible. Also not sure how much it actually affected things if it did hit the wire, but it's interesting. https://t.co/4MMgfftt6m pic.twitter.com/OLMpgnsmLg
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) October 25, 2022
It seems fairly obvious the ball’s trajectory never shifts. But, with this kind of evidence, nothing is conclusive.
At any rate, Brisker still skied to pick off the ball with one hand. I’m not sure a slightly better pass that was (or wasn’t) altered by the wire ever gets through the Chicago safety in that coverage. Folks: (whispers) that pass was a terrible decision by Jones, and it was getting picked either way.
NFL fans debated whether Brisker's pick of Jones actually hit the SkyCam wire
This interception hit the wire and also THE DRESS WAS BLUE. https://t.co/P5cNSJ3JhY
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) October 26, 2022
I think patriots fans are more delusional about Mac Jones than Philly was with Carson Wentz. He stinks. Get over it. It happens. Sorry Belichick is human and makes mistakes. Welcome back to the real world New England. https://t.co/SnhgV2Cqpk
— Randy Ridgway (@drizz_81) October 26, 2022
This is wild https://t.co/S65fyBAIxb
— Meech ⚡️ (@MitchellBruneau) October 26, 2022
Oh damn it definitely hit the sky cam line. https://t.co/yQqfR088Rn
— Jared Scali (@Jared_Scali) October 25, 2022
This definitely makes the catch even more impressive. It was quite a snag by Brisker. https://t.co/k25JvGP7i1
— Matt St. Jean (@mattstdream) October 25, 2022
— Nick (@CombineArtwork) October 25, 2022
Throwing an INT off the sky cam line should give the other team some kind of points https://t.co/EYaPvMrKAs
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) October 26, 2022
Yup the wire bends as it passes by, I wonder how many times this has happened before cause that’s just terrible luck 😂 https://t.co/O5gRDhsy0q
— Let a Ninja live (@NiyiDNinja) October 25, 2022
Honestly, I think it did. You can see the front tip of the ball jerk down slightly as it passes the wire. Regardless, I think those wires are considered "part of the field", so the result would have been the same. Also hard to tell exactly how much the trajectory changed.
— Sol (@SolSSBM) October 25, 2022
