Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, like so many Patriots opponents who have gone before him, had some trouble with the sideline communication headset in his helmet during Super Bowl LI.

Video shows Ryan talking to an official, then walking to the sideline looking frustrated.

#SuperBowl Patriots using espionage tactics to jam Matt Ryan's helmet radio? pic.twitter.com/ioj3jvbnrD — Tom Malvaso (@TomMalvaso) February 6, 2017

Ryan wasn’t the only Falcons quarterback who couldn’t hear the plays on his headset. Practice squad quarterback Matt Simms appeared to be having a similar issue when he spoke to Ryan on the sideline.

You can't hear shit.



All I see is shit.



It's a shit show. pic.twitter.com/L9tF5He4bH — Due# (@JDue51) February 6, 2017

It was definitely a shit show. The Falcons let a 25-point lead slip away to lose to the Patriots in overtime, and it is possible the headset malfunction had something to do with it.

The Falcons had to burn a timeout to deal with the malfunction. With 30 seconds left in regulation and the game tied, they had to waste a down spiking the ball to stop the clock, when a timeout would have come in handy.

But mostly, the Falcons just blew it. They stopped running the ball in the second half with a comfortable lead. There’s a reason conventional football wisdom suggests that running the ball in that situation is a good idea. It often works. What the Falcons did, well, that didn’t work.

Still, this isn’t the first shady incident to be connected with the Patriots and New England’s Super Bowl LI win. Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s backpack with the Super Bowl game plan in it went missing during Opening Night, and there are plenty of reasons to believe this game was totally rigged.

Believing that it was rigged might make it a little easier for Falcons fans, anyway.

The origins of the NFL's QB communication system