The Seahawks are freely admitting as much after their 13-10 win, with Pete Carroll saying on his radio show in Seattle on Tuesday morning that based on what he understood about the rule prior to Monday’s missed call, he would have “done the exact same thing, ” as Wright. While the lions are 0-4, they have numerous offensive weapons that pose a threat to any defense.
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Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford passes in the first half…
“What can you do?”
“Walker’s is significant, there’s no question about that”, head coach Jim Caldwell said after the game. With Detroit on the verge of capping a 91-yard drive with the go-ahead touchdown with less than 2 minutes remaining, Chancellor came from the side and punched the ball from Johnson’s arm as he was being tackled by Earl Thomas. The fumbled football bounced a few times in the end zone and then went out the back of the end zone.
“The rule itself, a bat is an intentional act, so there is subjectivity to it”, Blandino said on NFL Network.
And that’s where the controversy began. The referees called a touchback, giving Seattle the ball on their 20-yard line.
On the ensuing possession, Seattle’s Russell Wilson found Jermaine Kearse for 50 yards on third down.
Wilson connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Doug Baldwin in the second quarter to put the Seahawks on the road to a second straight win after their 0-2 start. He did not see that part of the play because that is not his area. Maybe now teams will listen when Bill Belichick wonders why coaches can’t challenge everything – including missed calls and non-calls by officials. Thanks to a quirk in the rules, that meant the original play actually couldn’t be reviewed and the touchdown stood.
It’s the essence of the Lions – almost 60 years of frustration and futility boiled down to one play. And after Ziggy Ansah stripped and recovered a Wilson fumble near midfield, Riley Reiff was called for a personal foul to undo another Johnson catch. Then it was all Detroit until Chancellor’s big play on Johnson.
Well, yet another unbelievable finish to a Seahawks prime-time game at CenturyLink Field. “He knocked the ball out, he got the game-winner for us”. The Lions forced two fumbles, had four sacks and scored on a 27-yard fumble return by defensive tackle Caraun Reid.
While the read-option is not as explosive when opposing defenses don’t have to focus on stopping Lynch, Wilson proved Monday he is shifty enough to create running lanes when the pocket breaks down and pick up additional fantasy points with his legs.
But Seattle answered with Steven Hauschka’s 51-yard field goal with one minute left in the second quarter to hold a 10-3 lead at halftime.
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The Lions reached the Seattle 11 and on third-and-1, Stafford passed to an open Johnson. As he stretched for the goal line, Chancellor came across and knocked the ball free. One can be upset certainly, but if Wright hadn’t swatted at the ball it would have made no difference to the gut-wrenching end of the game; no one in Honolulu blue was coming to save the day.
