NBCs Michele Tafoya, confusingly, reported from the sidelines during the second quarter that the Patriots headsets were, indeed, shut offcontrary to what the NFL claims. (The Steelers, reportedly, are planning to file a complaint with the NFL.)
Heres how the Pittsburgh Steelers official website described tonights headset issues:
"The broadcast was so loud that the Steelers coaches were unable to communicate, and the NFL rule is that if one teams headsets are not working the other team is supposed to be forced to take their headsets off. Its what the NFL calls the Equity Rule. Strangely enough, whenever an NFL representative proceeded to the New England sideline to shut down their headsets, the Steelers headsets cleared. Then as the representative walked away from the New England sideline, the Steelers headsets again started to receive the Patriots game broadcast."