The most controversial play of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 14 loss to the New England Patriots came in the final minutes. Trailing 21-18 and facing 4th and 3 with five minutes to go, the Patriots appeared to jump offsides, giving Pittsburgh a first down. Even the Patriots seemed to accept their looming fate of giving the Steelers a free five yards.
Then the call came in. A penalty not on New England but Pittsburgh long snapper Christian Kuntz for a false start. In the moment, the call was universally panned with even former NFL ref and rules analyst Terry McAulay critical of the decision, believing it should’ve been called on New England.
Now, we have new information to why the flag went against Kuntz and the Steelers. In a Sunday morning article penned by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Patriots Special Teams Coordinator Cam Achord said Kuntz was flagged for “sliding the ball and moving his hand at the same time,” apparently a point of emphasis by the league in recent weeks.
The relevant quote from Reiss’ article:
“Patriots special teams coordinator Cam Achord said the crew relayed to the New England sideline that the call was made as a result of Kuntz ‘sliding the ball and moving his hand at the same time’ — something the league has been ‘harping on.'”
Let’s take another look at the play.
In the moment, it appeared Kuntz was flagged for his head bob ahead of the snap. But according to Reiss’ article, Kuntz wasn’t flagged for that. The issue they’re talking about is hard to see — blink and you’ll miss it — but as Kuntz bobs his head, his hands and the football move slightly, which was evidently enough to draw the call. There was no mention of this action during the broadcast, which focused on Kuntz raising his head instead.
Still, Steelers fans rightly have a case against this ruling. As speculated by the Pat McAfee Show Friday, Bill Belichick likely was in the ref’s ear either ahead of time or after the flag was thrown reminding the officials of this point of emphasis. And so the call went against Pittsburgh.
After the game, Mike Tomlin confirmed he was given an explanation – presumably this one – but told reporters “I don’t know if I agree with it.”
Though the call can still certainly be argued, it can’t be blamed for the Steelers’ loss. Pittsburgh had many more miscues and ample chances to win the game. Even after the penalty was assessed against the Steelers and they punted the ball away, the defense forced a three-and-out. But Pittsburgh’s offense squandered the chance, QB Mitch Trubisky throwing deep on 4th and 2, incomplete to WR Diontae Johnson to essentially end the game.
