Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wasn't thrilled with his team's play in Thursday's loss to the Steelers, and he wasn't happy about headset communication problems at Gillette Stadium.
"We were listening to the Patriots' radio broadcast for the majority of the first half on our headset," Tomlin said, pointing out that radio problems are "always the case" in Foxborough.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick essentially agreed with Tomlin.
"We had a lot of problems," Belichick said. "We had to switch microphones a couple times. Our communication system was not very good."
Belichick said it was a problem all night and the officials told him they were on the verge of shutting the communication system down.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, meanwhile, didn't think the problems filtered down to him much.
"There were a few plays that didn't come in, but that happens. That's nothing new. I didn't think there were too many issues tonight with communication between (offensive coordinator) Todd (Haley) and myself," Roethlisberger said.
Tomlin, who was clearly upset about the issue, said it was the league's responsibility to handle the problem. At one point he shut down any more questions on the topic.
"We let the league officials on site handle it, is what we did," Tomlin said.
After the game, NFL spokesman Michael Signora issued a statement on the behalf of the league, explaining that the equipment is handled by the league.
"In the first quarter of tonight's game, the Pittsburgh coaches experienced interference in their headsets caused by a stadium power infrastructure issue, which was exacerbated by the inclement weather," Signora said. "The coaches' communications equipment, including the headsets, is provided by the NFL for both clubs use on game day. Once the power issue was addressed, the equipment functioned properly with no additional issues."
