A key false start prior to a fourth-quarter punt by the Steelers wiped out an offside foul against New England, and in turn derailed a potentially promising drive during a game the Steelers trailed by three points. It was believed the flag was thrown because Pittsburgh long snapper Christian Kuntz had moved his head up too quickly.
That might not be the case.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, Patriots special teams coordinator Cam Achord said that the officiating crew explained Kuntz was “sliding the ball and moving his hand at the same time,” and that the league has been “harping on” that tactic.
It’s hard to see the ball sliding or the hand moving in the replay of the game on Amazon Prime. Rules analyst Terry McAulay, a long-time referee, said this after the commercial break following the ensuing punt: “They’re saying that he made a quick and abrupt movement prior to the snap. I don’t see this as quick and abrupt. . . . This looks like normal movement that we see from a long snapper.”
In his post-game press conference, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said regarding the call, “I was given an explanation. I don’t know that I agree with it, but I was given an explanation.”
Tomlin didn’t say what the explanation was. It would be interesting to know — and maybe he’ll be asked during his weekly session with reporters on Tuesday — whether the explanation matches the explanation the Patriots received.
Regardless, nothing about that play seemed to be worthy of a foul. As Peter King explained on Friday’s PFT Live, officials routinely tolerate all sorts of herky-jerky pre-snap movements by offensive linemen, including the habit by more than a few left and right tackles of leaving a split-second early in order to better block edge rushers. That makes the decision to flag Kuntz in such a key moment seem weird, whatever the explanation(s) for it.