Massive logistical error nearly costs San Francisco 49ers in crucial divisional game

Early in the fourth quarter, the referees failed to overturn a call that would have given the San Francisco 49ers the ball in Seattle Seahawks territory where the returner blatantly touched the football.

Amazon's rules analyst former referee Terry McAuley told announcers Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit that they didn't have the enhanced view that they had on the broadcast.

"I talked with Walt Anderson in the command center in New York, and what they're telling me is they did not get our enhanced video that we showed the ball touching the finger. What they had was the raw feed from our cameras was not clear and obvious to them."

This is a problem, as the National Football League is supposed to have access to every angle simultaneously. This is from an article from ESPN's Kevin Seifert discussing the rule changes from the league to make replay more expedited.

The replay assist rule coincided with an upgrade to Hawk-Eye technology that allows replay officials to access every camera angle instantly, rather than waiting for them to be shown on a broadcast. Dan Cash, the managing director of Hawk-Eye's North America region, said in 2021 that the software plugs directly into the broadcaster's truck and can display up to 48 camera angles on demand, although most games have far fewer cameras on site.

The question remains why the NFL wasn't able to get the enhanced view that the entire world sees? Sure it got the raw footage, but perception is reality and saidp perception is that the 49ers got screwed over by a blatantly obvious call.