The officials in Monday night’s Seattle Seahawks-Minnesota Vikings game missed an obvious penalty on a key blocked field goal by Bobby Wagner.
Minnesota was down 6-0 to Seattle with just under six minutes remaining and tried a 47-yard field goal by Dan Bailey. The kick was blocked by Wagner, who used his teammates to jump over the line and block the kick:
Bobby Wagner with the leap frog for the block pic.twitter.com/UqCWdNWzKC
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) December 11, 2018
Here’s a shot that shows he clearly used his teammates for leverage:
Looks like Bobby Wagner used his buddies to leapfrog and block the field goal pic.twitter.com/t6jPTbkl66
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 11, 2018
The officials threw a flag on the play immediately and met to discuss afterwards but determined there was no penalty, allowing the block to stand.
It’s truly a wonder how they decided there was no penalty. If a player uses another player as leverage to help block a kick, that is against the rules. That should have been a 15-yard penalty and first down for Minnesota. They would have had the ball at the Seattle 14 in a 6-0 game and a good shot to take the lead with a touchdown and extra point.
Instead, Seattle got the ball, drove for a touchdown, made a 2-point conversion, and then got a strip-sack return for a touchdown on the following possession to blow the game open at 21-0.
That blocked kick was a game-changer, and missing the penalty was a huge whiff by the officials. It was a complete game-changing mistake. Officials should have looked out for it, because Wagner is known for this type of play.
