An incompletion on fourth and goal by the Seattle Seahawks against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday turned out to be one of the biggest plays of the game, and making matters more interesting is that there was a controversial no-call on the play.
Doug Baldwin and Paul Richardson ran a crossing route, leading the Chiefs defensive backs to switch and stay in their zones. As the receivers did their cross, Sean Smith put his forearm in Baldwin’s back and gave him a push.
It wasn’t a terribly blatant push, but it was enough to somewhat re-route Baldwin seemingly beyond the five yard mark where contact is allowed. Being re-directed made it pretty impossible for Baldwin to come close to making the catch.
Though that play was key and not getting a penalty call for pass interference was huge, the Seahawks had more chances.
After turning the ball over on downs, they played good defense and forced the Chiefs to punt. They got great field position starting at the 45, but they only managed to get 9 yards and then they were stuffed on another 4th-and-short situation.
KC’s defense deserved credit for their stops on that drive, but you have to wonder how much different things would have been had a penalty been called. With four more cracks at a touchdown, Seattle might have scored to go up 27-24. Instead they lost 24-20.
