The Pittsburgh Steelers got a timeout they didn’t ask for.

With the moments winding down in the fourth quarter, Ben Roethlisberger found JuJu Schuster-Smith for a 69-yard reception, which brought the Steelers into the Patriots’ red zone with plenty of time to kick a field goal and tie the game — or win with a touchdown.

That’s when a referee erred, according to Roethlisberger.

“I’m putting my hands up like ‘Are we taking a timeout, are we taking a timeout?’” Roethlisberger said Tuesday, via TribLive.com. “Tony [Corrente] thought I was calling for the timeout and blew (the whistle).”

Mike Tomlin corroborated Roethlisberger’s story, and explained he had intended to pocket his timeout for later.

Indeed, he could have used it later. On a play when the clock was running moments later, Roethlisberger elected to fake the snap, and in the hectic environment, he threw an interception. That effectively ended the game in a Patriots’ 27-20 win.

But that’s not where the Steelers quarterback’s complaints stopped.

“I think officials are calling a lot, maybe too much. I think officials are taking the game away some times,” Roethlisberger said, via ESPN. “I think that they’re affecting the outcome, and I’m not trying to criticize officiating because I don’t want to get fined or anything like that. I’ve heard it from many people. You watch a game and it’s like almost every snap there seems to be a penalty and whether it’s warranted or unwarranted, it just seems like there’s a lot of penalties being called nowadays.”

All these complains came after the referees overturned a touchdown to Jesse James during the Steelers’ final drive. The touchdown came after Schuster-Smith’s big reception and Roethlisberger’s interception. The Steelers quarterback targeted James over the the middle of the field. James, in the process of trying to secure the catch, extended over the end zone line and lost control off the football as the ball hit the ground.

The play was steeped in controversy, much like so many elements of the game.