To state the obvious: no, this is not a story about the New England Patriots stealing other teams’ signals (or rather filming them from the wrong location) or any other illegal activities on the part of the most successful pro football franchise of the 21st century. No, this is a story about the NFL being a copycat league — and that the Patriots are on the forefront of innovation and setting trends for other teams to follow.
The latest to do that are the New Orleans Saints. During Sunday night’s shellacking of the Philadelphia Eagles, Saints head coach Sean Payton used a play that New England ran against the Eagles nine months ago in Super Bowl 52.