Steelers to file complaint over headset issues during loss to Patriots (Report)

The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly filing a complaint to the NFL over the headset communication issues during the season opener against the New England Patriots Thursday night. Although the league has taken responsibility for the issue, the Steelers still think that there was some tampering with the headsets.

During the first half of the Steelers’ 28-21 loss to the Patriots, head coach Mike Tomlin and the other Steelers coaches were receiving the Patriots radio broadcast and were unable to communicate over the headsets.

A source told Yahoo! Sports that the Steelers staff is angry that the NFL didn’t force the Patriots to shut their headphones off after the problem was first reported. The Steelers apparently weren’t told why the Pats were allowed to keep communicating while they were told to shut their headsets off while the issues was being fixed.

So, the Steelers will file a complaint to the NFL for the equipment failure and for officials not shutting off headsets on the Pats’ sidelines.

After the game, it was obvious that Tomlin was angry with the situation, telling reporters that this is “always the case” when his team plays at Gillette. “I said what I said,” he added.

Another source told ESPN that the NFL officials were in the process of shutting down the Patriots’ communications when the Steelers’ issue was fixed. However, the problem happened again, but when it was fixed this time, the problem never happened.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also insisted that his team had issues with communication as well. The NFL also issued a statement that it supplies the communications equipment. Despite that, it looks like the Patriots will have to deal with another controversy. They don’t play again until Sept. 20 against the Bills in Buffalo. They will be home again on Sept. 27, so we’ll have to wait until then to see if the Jacksonville Jaguars complain, too.

UPDATE: ESPN's Adam Schefter has posted a statement from the Steelers, which confirms that the team will not file a complaint, despite the previous reports.