The Steelers were on the wrong end of a questionable decision from the officiating crew during Thursday Night Football against the Patriots.
On fourth-and-3 with a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh’s punt unit appeared to a draw an offsides penalty against New England. Players on both sides reacted as if the Patriots had jumped offsides, but when the referees announced the penalty, they ruled it a false start against Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz.
The officials had determined that Kuntz’s slight pre-snap head movement was enough to warrant a flag, pushing Pittsburgh back five yards rather than granting the team a much-needed first down.
NFL fans on social media were not convinced by the decision from the officiating crew, and they made their voices heard on social media after yet another controversial ruling.
No way this was called false start.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 8, 2023
Another game changing call.. Everyone thought it was offsides pic.twitter.com/RxDJlu4kMN
That’s a really bad call
— Will Compton (@_willcompton) December 8, 2023
Man that is such a horrible call. This team is just not good enough to overcome bad officiating. That feels like an absolute dagger.
— Steelers Network (@SteelersNetwork) December 8, 2023
HOW THE HELL IS THIS A FALSE START ON THE #STEELERS.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 8, 2023
THE REFS DO NOT KNOW THE RULEBOOK. pic.twitter.com/ltS5vh2ele
FALSE START?!?!?
— Kevin Adams (@KevinAdams26) December 8, 2023
Tell me again this league isn’t fixed.
So where was the false start on the longsnapper?
— Schlasser (@UrinatingTree) December 8, 2023
False start?? pic.twitter.com/k7oKEGQbMH
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) December 8, 2023
That’s a HORRIBLE call…false start on the snapper? He barely snapped his head up…game changing call once again
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) December 8, 2023
