Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Seattle Seahawks benefited from a controversial call by the referees at the end of a “Monday Night Football” game.
In this case, the missed call was an intentional batting foul by K.J. Wright, who batted a loose ball out of the end zone in order to get a touchback at the end of the game against the Detroit Lions.
Kam Chancellor had punched a ball out of Calvin Johnson’s hands a foot from the goal line to cause the fumble with less than two minutes left in the game. Rather than trying to jump on the ball and take possession, Wright punched it out of the end zone. The Seahawks were awarded a touchback and went on to win the game 13-10, but the rules show that was a bad call.
The NFL rule book says there is a penalty for illegal batting:
For illegal batting or punching the ball: Loss of 10 yards. For enforcement, treat as a foul during a backward pass or fumble
Since this was done in the end zone, the ball would have gone back to the Lions and it would have been half the distance to the goal. That means Detroit should have gotten the ball inches from the goal line. NFL VP of officiating Dean Blandino explained the missed call and said it was a judgement call by the referee:
NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino comments on the Lions-Seahawks ending. http://t.co/BO90lIlUl8
— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2015
Because it was a judgement call it was not reviewable, but it’s clear Wright’s actions were intentional and the NFL missed it.
In case you forgot the last controversial call that benefited the Seahawks, recall this.
