The Packers caught a tough break early in their Divisional Round playoff game against the Seahawks on Sunday, and it cost them what would have been a possession deep in Seattle territory.
Jacob Hollister caught a pass for a first down on the Seahawks’ first offensive play on the game, but the tight end fumbled on his way to the ground. The call on the field was that he was down by contact, but Packers coach Matt LaFleur challenged. Replays clearly showed Hollister was losing control of the ball before he was down.
In #SEAvsGB, there was no clear video evidence of the defense recovering the fumble. Al Riveron explains: pic.twitter.com/ndvpSx87kC
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) January 13, 2020
Unfortunately for Green Bay, that meant nothing. In order for them to win the challenge, the officials would have had to determine that there was a fumble and a clear recovery by the defense. It appeared the Packers came away with the ball, but apparently there wasn’t enough evidence of a clear recovery, so Seattle kept possession.
They said there wasn't evidence of a clear recovery pic.twitter.com/LbwXq0GiMR
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 13, 2020
The Packers were able to force a punt, but they got the ball inside their own 10-yard line rather than having it in the red zone. Had the call on the field been that Hollister fumbled, they likely would have gotten the ball.
