The BICEP2 collaboration has reported a strong B mode signal in the CMB polarization , which is well fit by a tensor-to-scalar ratio of r \simeq 0.2 .
This is greater than the upper limit r < 0.11 obtained from the temperature anisotropies under the assumption of a constant scalar spectral index n _ { s } .
This discrepancy can be reduced once the statistical error and the contamination from polarized dust are accounted for .
If however a large value for r will be confirmed , it will need to be reconciled with the temperature anisotropies data .
The most advocated explanation involves a variation of n _ { s } with scales ( denoted as running ) that has a magnitude significantly greater than the generic slow roll predictions .
We instead study the possibility that the large scale temperature anisotropies are not enhanced because of a suppression of the scalar power at large scales .
Such a situation can be achieved for instance by a sudden change of the speed of the inflaton ( by about 14 \% ) , and we show that it fits the temperature anisotropies and polarization data considerably better than a constant running ( its \chi ^ { 2 } improves by \sim 7.5 over that of the constant running , at the cost of one more parameter ) .
We also consider the possibility that the large scale temperature fluctuations are suppressed by an anti-correlation between tensor and scalar modes .
Unfortunately , while such effect does affect the temperature fluctuations at large scales , it does not affect the temperature power spectrum and can not , therefore , help in reconciling a large value of r with the limits from temperature fluctuations .