So, for the uninitiated, here is precisely what the P*ts do...
In the early days, they filmed coaches sending in signals from the sidelines. (That's what was happening when they got caught. They had a guy ON the opposing team's sideline with a camera falsely marked.) They also filmed down and distance and time for each play. And of course they have game tape of every play as it happens.
Step 2, in the early days, was to take all three of those source materials and decipher them. They got the calls from the sideline tape of the coords calling in plays. They synched those calls up with each play via the down/distance/time shots. Then they compared the call verbiage with what happened during the play.
So P*t coaches looked at every play, (sometimes multiple games worth) and began the painstaking process of identifying what everyone on the field is doing. So eventually they worked out what "Alpha 2-Sling Blast" meant and how it differed from "Alpha 6 Barn Fire". They worked out the individual components of opposing teams' playcalling verbiage. A task made simpler by the simple reality of how coaching trees work. Coaches work under a guy, learn and adapt that guys system and then when they go out on their own, they have elements from the roots of their coaching tree in their own verbiage. It's like taking Italian to French or Spanish. Even if the language has it's own nuances and rules, it's still based on a source language (in this case Latin) and from there you can find commonalities and more quickly decipher it.
So, after the coaches have worked out a particular teams play calling language, it is given to Ernie Adams. Ernie has the unique ability to quickly memorize the teams language and what all it's aggregate parts mean. Then, during a game, all Ernie needs is the playcall off the sideline and he instantly knows precisely what the other team is asking ALL it's players to do on a given play.
The P*ts cheating system evolved quickly. They began intercepting radio signals so Ernie had real-time access to the calls coming in from the sidelines. Once he got the call, he could immediately call down to Brady or the defensive captain and inform him exactly what the defensive linemen were doing, whether the linebackers were blitzing or dropping back, and if so, who. He also knew whether the dbs were going to play man, zone or a combination. With that information, T*m has just enough to find the advantage he needs on every single play to give his team an edge.
Now, do the P*ts still have to perform? Do they still have to execute the counter-play in order to be successful? Sure. But that becomes a LOT easier if you KNOW James Harrison is blitzing and you KNOW that safety who looks like he's sneaking up for a blitz is actually going to drop into cover 2. You know immediately that your best hot-read is the TE on Harrison's side, or a flaring RB.
The same is true on defense. Ernie knows where you are trying to run. He knows who your primary reads are on a given pass. He knows what kind of protection you are calling given a defensive look.
And this has gone on for the better part of 2 decades. Because Ernie can remember EVERYTHING. He has a complete photographic memory. Over the years, the P*ts have developed a huge history of play calling verbiage and how each OC and DC uses it.
And this is JUST the playcalling cheat. As we've seen they also implement any number of other programs to help themselves gain 'small edges' in games. From stolen script-sheets, to spied upon walk-throughs to deflated balls to malfunctioning headsets in critical moments. They have a team of lawyers who go through the rulebook and look for every nuance of an opportunity to exploit the wording of a rule. Not technically illegal, but ultimately undermining the intent of the rule and book.
And you can absolutely believe that the stuff we KNOW about is just a fraction of all the stuff they do.
The P*ts are scum.
