New England Patriots

Relax, what you saw wasn't the Patriots cheating the Chiefs

Published Jan. 17, 2016 4:30 a.m. ET

Andre Vergara

Those poor New England Patriots. They just can't shake that reputation for cheating.

First, on Friday night, was the report that someone had pulled the fire alarm in the hotel the Kansas City Chiefs were staying in. Complete with a hallway shot.

Actual photo of fire evacuation inside hotel with source edited out. pic.twitter.com/jxXTXRiTXi
— ProFootballCentral (@PFCentral) January 16, 2016

@PFCentral Mystery Solved pic.twitter.com/gajFT5T8dF
— Casey Scott (@KCScott7) January 16, 2016

Then on Saturday in the final two minutes of the first half of the teams' playoff matchup, someone on the Chiefs sideline casually strolled by Reid and took the red challenge flag out of his pocket.

Hope there are no close calls. Sly guy just stole Andy Reid's challenge flag. pic.twitter.com/FkNhwGVnje
— Cris Collinsworth (@CollinsworthNBC) January 16, 2016

Naturally, the Pats haters came out of the woodwork. But did anyone really believe Belichick could plant someone in disguise to steal the Chiefs' challenge flag?

Cooler heads prevailed, and while there was no official explanation from the Chiefs after the game, most media shared the opinion that the team simply took sneaky measures to make sure Reid didn't use the flag, since coaches cannot challenge plays with less than two minutes left in a half.