The Pittsburgh Steelers' comeback efforts against the New England Patriots suffered a major blow when long snapper Christian Kuntz was flagged for a false start on fourth and three with 5:06 left in the fourth quarter and the Steelers trailing by just three.
Everyone in Acrisure Stadium, from the television announcers to the fans to the Steelers players and even, it appeared, Jahlani Tavai - the Patriots linebacker who jumped early - that New England was going to get hit with an offsides penalty and the Pittsburgh would get a new set of downs.
"When he jumped offsides, that’s when I looked up and thought it was a first down for us," Kuntz said.
Kuntz was wrong. Instead, Kuntz moving his head up was deemed "abrupt" enough by officials to pull their flags on the home team and move them back five yards.
"No abrupt movement is the rule," Kuntz said following the loss. "So they must have thought I moved my head abruptly."
Kuntz said he wished the play was reviewable but accepted that it is in the officials' hands. he believed even Tavai knew he had jumped early based on the reaction after the whistle. Kuntz added that he disagreed with the officials' judgment that his head movement was "abrupt" enough to warrant a flag.
"I don't think I was abrupt with my head movement," Kuntz said. "I didn't move my head until they jumped offsides, quite frankly."
It proved to be a pivotal call late in a brutal loss to the now 3-10 Patriots. Instead of a fresh set of downs for the Steelers at their own 43-yard line, needing just a field goal to extend the game, the Patriots got the ball back with a chance to kill some more of the remaining 4:58.
The Steelers had two more chances to drive for a game-tying field goal or more and failed to do so, but neither of those possessions set them up in as promising as what could have been if that pivotal call had swung the other way.
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