The Green Bay Packers reached the NFC Championship under somewhat controversial circumstances after a questionable spot at the end of Sunday’s gave them a game-clinching first down.
Facing a key 3rd-and-9 at the Seattle 45 with two minutes left, the Packers needed one more first down to clinch the game since the Seahawks only had one timeout remaining. The Packers put the ball in the hands of Aaron Rodgers, who threw short of the marker to tight end Jimmy Graham. Safety Lano Hill tried to wrap up Graham short of the marker, but Graham was given the first down by the initial spot.
As the spot was scrutinized, it looked very iffy.
Was it a first down? pic.twitter.com/Ma7OqvvLJQ
— Snubbed'Darius Smith (@FTBeard11) January 13, 2020
First down pic.twitter.com/XewNJscUYk
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) January 13, 2020
Man @NFLOfficiating is just soooooo bad. No question Jimmy Graham was holding the ball below his helmet and the helmet was down at the first down line The @Seahawks got screwed on that spot but I’m sure @packers fans don’t mind. #Seahawks #Packers pic.twitter.com/ZfjV7xnDu1
— Steve Gallo (@SteveGalloNFL) January 13, 2020
The problem was there was no clear view showing the ball as Graham reached for the marker. Subsequently, the play was upheld, and the Packers won the game.
Graham definitely appeared to be down short of the line to gain based on what was shown on TV. Another angle shows the TV line seemed to be different from the real line:
The yellow line was about a foot ahead of the actual first-down marker on that Jimmy Graham play. pic.twitter.com/kcCTtbZjhJ
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) January 13, 2020
Unfortunately for the Seahawks, the lack of conclusive video evidence made the original spot almost impossible to overturn. That will come as little consolation for Seahawks fans, who will believe — perhaps rightly — that the original spot was terrible to begin with, and to Pete Carroll, who was furious.
There are certainly some NFL fans who believe the Packers benefiting from calls like this is just par for the course.
