The New England Patriots escaped Thursday Night Football with a win. However, there was one call that could have potentially changed the entire outcome.
In the fourth quarter, the Patriots were able to come up with a major stop, forcing the Steelers to punt. Pittsburgh's punting unit took the field and lined up ready to go.
But things got crazy after Jahlani Tavai appeared to jump offsides. That would have awarded the Steelers with a much-needed first down.
The Steelers began celebrating and Tavai along with the rest of the Patriots team looked upset, believing that they had just given them a huge first down.
But instead, the official put an end to the Steelers happiness, calling an offsides on Christian Kuntz.
And Pat McAfee provided some crucial information on why the call was made.
He first referenced a tweet that was posted after this call was made.
"This is very real. So before games, the coaches will talk to the refs and they'll say 'our film study shows us that No. 21 he holds a lot whenever we're doing those. So just keep an eye out for it, please,'" McAfee explained on his show on Friday. "Just like a little seed you're kind of dropping in there. For special teams it happens on a very regular basis because there is minute things that are against the rules, but they can't really tell unless they're spotlighted by a coach or by a special teams coordinator."
"This is a Bill Belichick special," McAfee added. "It was fourth and three, so any team that has less than five is going to attempt some little Tom Foolery...So the Patriots had a read on this and boom, his head right there. That was a move by Christian Kuntz to try and make them jump. That is exactly what that was. And if it wasn't for Bill Belichick telling them about this, I don't think the refs call it. But as soon as this happens, Bill Belichick reminds the refs, I assume. Joe Judge reminds the ref and says 'Hey, he's not allowed to move his head abruptly before the snap." That's not his normal snap.
Bill Belichick is regarded as a defensive and special teams mastermind, so for him to notice something so small is not unexpected. And it paid off.
"If it's any other team that doesn't pay attention to special teams as much or doesn't care as much, I would assume that's not called," McAfee said. "Do I like the call? No. Not at all. He should be able to move his head all he wants... He should be able to do that, but by the letter of the law he's not. And it was certainly something that was spotlighted by the Patriots."
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