Something happened during the NFL’s season opener between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers.

“We were listening to the Patriots’ radio broadcast for the majority of the first half through our headsets,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told reporters follow a 28-21 loss. “We will let the league officials handle it.”

Except Pittsburgh didn’t let the league officials handle it. They wrote about it on the team’s official website and came within an inch of accusing New England of cheating.

via Steelers.com:

From the start of the game through the opening 14 minutes of the first quarter, the Steelers’ coaches’ headsets were receiving the Patriots Radio Network broadcast of the game. The broadcast was so loud that the Steelers coaches were unable to communicate, and the NFL rule is that if one team’s headsets are not working the other team is supposed to be forced to take their headsets off. It’s what the NFL calls the Equity Rule. Strangely enough, whenever an NFL representative proceeded to the New England sideline to shut down their headsets, the Steelers headsets cleared. Then as the representative walked away from the New England sideline, the Steelers’ headsets again started to receive the Patriots game broadcast.

The NFL was quick to release a statement about the occurrence.

“The coaches’ communications equipment, including the headsets, is provided by the NFL for both clubs use on game day,” NFL spokesman Michael Signora said in a statement. “Once the power issue was addressed, the equipment functioned properly with no additional issues.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said New England also had communication problems during the game, adding it happens “like weekly.”

So depending on who you ask, the issue was either a common occurrence, a fleeting nuisance, or cheating of the highest order. But the accusations and discerning guilt are only the beginning. One deeper issue that New England faces is that every win will have doubt cast upon it regardless of merit. That’s a bed they helped make. But as the Steelers swiftly demonstrated at the conclusion of Thursday’s game, the root of the issues goes beyond the Patriots.

For nine years, Roger Goodell has stood at countless podiums and sternly furrowed his brow while discussing the importance of protecting the integrity of the game. He has dealt harsh punishments for a variety of transgressions in the name of protecting the integrity of the game. Deflategate, we were asked to believe, wasn’t about the air pressure of a football, it was about the integrity.

Now, NFL teams are brashly accusing other NFL teams of underhanded methods publicly. Players are saying it and coaches are saying it. Organizations are comfortable with calling out other organizations – their business partners – for the entire world to see and tweet and share at will.

How does the commissioner feel about the integrity of the NFL this morning?

The league has sold itself as a place impervious to scandal. It’s called the shield for crying out loud. Sure, players fail, coaches fail, even owners can fail, but the NFL – the shield – that will never falter. It’s faltering pretty publicly now. It’s time to get a grip before it fails completely.