The Seattle Seahawks won Monday night, and unlike the "Fail Mary" play from a few seasons ago, the refs blown call actually helped seal the victory.
The NFL admitted that final play should have been a penalty that allowed the Lions to retain possession, after the Seahawks K.J. Wright batted the ball out of the back of the end zone.
Wright went on to tell reporters that he was unaware of the rule at the time, and wanted to smack the ball out of play, rather than try to scoop it or all someone from Detroit to fall on it.
K.J. Wright said he didn't know the rule and was definitely trying to knock the ball out of the end zone.
— Curtis Crabtree (@Curtis_Crabtree) October 6, 2015
NFL V.P. of Officiating Dean Blandino admitted after the game that Wright should have been flagged for illegal batting.
Wright committed an illegal bat that should have given the ball back to the Lions at the spot where they lost possession, with the ball moved half the distance to the goal line.
Rule 12, Section 4, Article 1(b) applies the term “illegal bat” when “any player bats or punches a loose ball (that has touched the ground) in any direction, if it is in either end zone.”
So even though the rule that gives possession to the defense when the offense fumbles the ball in the field of play and it goes out of the end zone needs to be changed, a rule change wasn’t needed here. With Wright knocking the ball out of the end zone, the ball should have been given back to the Lions, on the fringe of the end zone.
Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll admitted his team was “fortunate.”
By Glenn Erby
