Monday night’s game between the Lions and the Seahawks was just the latest incident in which a missed or blown call cost a team a potential victory.
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Had a penalty been called, Detroit would have had the ball with a first down inside the 1-yard line and 1:45 remaining. NFL V.P. of officiating Dean Blandino has already said the call was wrong, and the Seahawks’ K.J. Wright, who batted the ball, admitted he did so intentionally.
The play was over, but the call shouldn’t have been a touchback and the ball was given to the Seahawks at the 20-yard-line.
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.
Except that back judge Greg Wilson didn’t believe Wright intentionally batted the ball. Chancellor made a great play on the ball to force the fumble at the end of the game.
According to Pro Pootball Talk, the batted-ball rule was enforced in a 2013 game between the Seahawks and 49ers, when Seattle’s Chris Maragos was penalized for illegally batting the ball forward following a blocked punt. But not without controversy as the officials incorrectly gave the Seattle possession after a Calvin Johnson fumble.
“So you can’t bat the ball in any direction in the end zone, in either end zone”, Blandino told the NFL Network. “K.J”.
Caldwell went on to say that he’s not going to “cry about it, that’s for sure”, and said he cannot take any solace in what happened knowing that the Lions could have won the game. “But at the time I wasn’t thinking that, I was just trying to not mess up the game”. The play, though, was not reviewable, and once the officials on the field declined to make the call, it ended there. “That was a smart play”, Carroll said of Wright’s tap. “So I know now”.
“I just think it’s unfortunate because it was such an incredible play, ” Carroll said during his regular day-after-game radio show on ESPN 710 Seattle.
The Lions had driven 90 yards to Seattle’s 9, well within range of a chip-shot field goal to tie the game and knocking on the door of what would have been the go-ahead score.
Injuries: Detroit got roughed up in this one injury-wise.
Fair or not, the Lions now sink to an nearly insurmountable 0-4, while the Seahawks even up their standing at 2-2 after getting off the a crawling start.
Quin also knows there is one way to avoid all of this, though it will not be as easy as it sounds.
“Now that’s my job to get it done and right now, being honest with you, I’m underachieving in that aspect of it. So that’s my job to get it going”.
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Seattle made the conscious decision to go younger and more inexperienced along the offensive line this season after trading center Max Unger to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for tight end Jimmy Graham.
