The AFC Championship Game almost took an ugly turn for the Patriots on Sunday, but that ugliness never came thanks to a controversial ruling by the officials.

The chaos started during the third quarter when the Patriots, facing a third-and-1 from their own 45-yard line, called a quarterback sneak.

Tom Brady appeared to fumble after gaining 2 yards, and after the play, the officials ruled that Brady had fumbled, and they gave the ball back to the Patriots. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin challenged the ruling on the field because he believed that Brady fumbled it and the Steelers recovered it.

As you can see below, the ball came loose on the ground as Brady was tackled.

After reviewing the play, referee Terry McAuley confirmed that Brady fumbled and that the Patriots would keep the ball because there was no clear recovery. NFL VP of officiating Dean Blandino also confirmed McAuley's ruling on Twitter.

No video evidence of either team recovering the loose ball. By rule call on field stands. — Dean Blandino (@DeanBlandino) January 23, 2017

The biggest problem for most Steelers' fans is that there did appear to be a recovery. As you can see below, Steelers rookie Javon Hargrave came out of the pile with the football.

Steelers' Javon Hargrave was standing next to the refs WITH the ball like, "Um, what do you guys mean 'No clear recovery?'" #Patriotspic.twitter.com/tLivP7Aa0u — John Breech (@johnbreech) January 23, 2017

However, that wasn't enough evidence for the refs, and the Patriots were allowed to keep possession.

Former NFL VP of officiating, Mike Pereira, pointed out on Twitter that just because Hargrave came out of the pile with the ball doesn't mean there was a clear recovery.

Player coming out of the pile with the ball is not considered a clear recovery. That appeared to me the reason the call stood as being down. — Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) January 23, 2017

The Patriots ended up getting a field goal on the drive, which extended their lead to 20-9. After that, the wheels fell off for the Steelers, who gave up two more touchdowns in the eight minutes after the fumble controversy. The Steelers ended up losing the game 36-17.

To find out exactly what happened in the AFC championship, be sure to check our takeaways from the Steelers-Patriots game by clicking here.