The Seattle Seahawks were outplayed throughout the majority of their game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, but they still feel the officials made a crucial error in the second half that may have cost them the game.
Russell Wilson threw an interception to Packers linebacker Jayrone Elliott on an attempted screen pass with less than seven minutes remaining in the game. However, Elliott coughed up the ball and the Seahawks thought offensive lineman Justin Britt got it back.
The officials disagreed.
“I don’t know what the heck happened,” Pete Carroll said after the game, per Shell Kapadia of ESPN.com. “I’m going to say it out loud here about this fumble thing. When the ball’s on the ground, and there’s a big pileup, we’re trying to get that football. And Justin Britt handed it to the official. Somewhere in there, the officials said that they declared that it was down, that they had the ball. Nobody pointed. Nobody told us that. So we kept battling, and we have the football. I don’t really understand that very well.”
The Seahawks were trailing 24-17 at the time, and their offense had looked much better in the second half. The Packers ended up making it a two-possession game by kicking a field goal with two minutes remaining.
Britt feels Green Bay received a gift.
“Me and him kind of reached for it at the same time, and then all I know is he tried to pull it into him,” he explained. “Then I pulled the tip and pulled it away. I walked away with it. Explain to me how that’s their ball.
“I think they were blowing the whistle the whole time, but that doesn’t mean they were declaring anything. I know somebody ripped my helmet off. I don’t know how that’s not a flag.”
The bottom line is Wilson didn’t protect the ball at a crucial point in the game. To make matters worse, Aaron Rodgers took a veiled swipe at his counterpart after the game. Had Wilson not made a bad throw, there would have been no controversy surrounding the ensuing fumble.
