Officials Missed Call at End of Seahawks-Lions Game

“You can’t bat the ball in any direction in the end zone – either end zone – so K.J. Wright batted the football, that is a foul for an illegal bat”, Blandino said. “It could be a muff, it could just hit the player and bounce out of bounds, so he has to make all of those decisions in that split second that he has on the field and he felt it wasn’t an intentional, overt act, and that’s why he didn’t throw the flag, so it certainly is subjective”. You know what I mean? Once they figured they had it ironed out, obviously it was out of our control, it had to be reviewed and looked at by them from upstairs. Referees need to have more knowledge to make the right calls.

Asked if the Seahawks should have been penalized, Blandino said, “Yeah, looking at the replay, it looks like a bat”. He said the context of their discussion was privileged. The result of the penalty would give Detroit possession enforced at the spot of the fumble.

“We’ve just played really good football and the guys are starting to get that feeling”.

“I think the fans – at least the ones that I know of and hear from and etc. – are more interested in us winning than any great pronouncement of a few sort”, Caldwell said.

He doesn’t plan to let that happen.

“We can’t be hanging on something that happened a night ago that we can do nothing about, There’s nothing we can do about it, ” Caldwell said. “(The officials have) got to be held accountable, just like the players are”.

He is taking the right approach.

Fair or not, the Lions now sink to an nearly insurmountable 0-4, while the Seahawks even up their standing at 2-2 after getting off the a crawling start.

Last season, Detroit lost a playoff game at Dallas after officials reversed themselves, negating what was initially announced as a pass interference call on the Cowboys in the fourth quarter. The common arguments are that the referees are pathetic and should do better, that Johnson shouldn’t have fumbled the ball in the first place, that somehow Jim Caldwell is at fault because he wasn’t angrier or that the rule is stupid and obscure and doesn’t matter. Or where a declined penalty within the last five minutes of a game will still stop the clock. Then the official inexplicably picked up the flag with no explanation. Detroit should have had the ball at the goal line, still alive with a chance to control their fate.

Then on Thanksgiving in 2012 Texans running back Justin Forsett was tackled and was down on the field, but there was no whistle so he got up and finished his 81-yard run for a touchdown. “They talk to him, so… that’s…”

The reality is: The Lions should have gotten back the ball on the one yard line. New England head coach Bill Belichick has been a big supporter of adding more cameras to gameday fields to improve replay coverage.

The non-call provided another memorable Monday night moment in Seattle. Seattle CB Marcus Burley (thumb) and Detroit TE Eric Ebron (knee) were injured in the game. They were down 13-10.