The New England Patriots’ 24-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday ended in controversy after Atlanta coach Raheem Morris accused New England of illegally using clapping sounds to trigger a false snap that led to a game-changing penalty.
The Falcons had the ball and were driving, reaching the Patriots’ 48-yard line with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter. On second-and-10, Falcons center Ryan Neuzil snapped the ball earlier than quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was expecting.
With Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams providing pressure up the middle, Penix threw the ball directly into the ground in front of him, resulting in an intentional grounding penalty (a loss of down and yardage). The Falcons eventually punted and never got the ball back.
During his postgame news conference, Morris was asked about the early snap.
“They did a nice job,” Morris said. “They simulated a snap. The ball came early. It was snapped early within that snap. That was when we got the intentional grounding.”
Morris was then asked how the Patriots simulated the snap.
“They were clapping and simulated our snap and got us to snap the ball,” Morris said. “That’s why the ball was snapped early and he wasn’t ready for the snap.”
Penix gave a similar response, stating that Neuzil heard clapping, which led to the snap.
If a defender simulates a snap, it is a 15-yard penalty. While the broadcast feed does not appear to show clapping before the snap, some reports said safety Jaylinn Hawkins was clapping toward the Patriots sideline. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the clapping Monday and said the clapping was not intentional and that if someone was clapping, it would have been hard to hear.
“That wasn’t anybody’s intent, and I don’t think that we’ve ever coached that or talked about that,” Vrabel said. “I can’t spend that much time focused on it. I did look at it briefly. I certainly didn’t think that that was anything that we did. I think it’s pretty loud, guys are trying to get lined up and I’m glad that we took off when they snapped the ball.”
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