NFL Officials Under Fire for Blown Call in Seahawks-Lions

Another week, another NFL officiating controversy — and this time, it doesn’t involve the Kansas City Chiefs.

In Monday’s matchup between the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks— a game Detroit won 42-29 — the referees missed a blown call that seems insignificant in the scheme of things but could’ve had a meaningful impact on the game at the time.

Late in the third quarter with down by two touchdowns, the Seahawks scored on a Kenneth Walker 1-yard run to pull within one score. Seattle went for a 2-point conversion to close the deficit from eight points to six, and it had seemingly drawn up the perfect play.

Quarterback Geno Smith lobbed a pass in the left corner of the end zone to DK Metcalf, who stretched out, gained possession of the ball and came down with a knee in bounds for what should have been a successful conversion. However, Lions cornerback Carlton Davis was called for pass interference and the Seahawks attempted the play again, which resulted in an incomplete pass to Jake Bobo.

Per Rule 15, Article 2(d) of the NFL rulebook, all 2-point plays are subject to review whether successful or not, meaning the refs should’ve looked at Metcalf’s catch, and if they had, they likely would’ve ruled it a catch and successful 2-point try.

The missed call and points coming off the board for Seattle prompted fans to voice their frustration on social media, and they didn’t hold back with their opinions of the officiating crew.

“Between the 2pt conversion that DK Metcalf made and the missed pass interference call, the #SEAvsDET game would have had a whole different score, but the #NFL does its own thing,” @ramdonomo said .

“To be very clear @NFL, you cost the @Seahawks 2 point/ that may decide this game. It’s unacceptable that in a league where all scoring plays are reviewed that your team conveniently just decided to not review that play,” @MBSSeattle wrote .

“This officiating is awful. Lockett didn’t even ‘block’ the guy that had Smith-Njigba in man. You’re allowed to make contact with a DB. Missed the 2 point conversion catch for Metcalf. Hate to see refs influence a good game like this,” @ZachMiller86 remarked .

“Wow @Seahawks you just got screwed out of 2 points! REFS F***ING SUCK @Lions,” @DonnajPortland exclaimed .

“Can someone check to see if the refs have money on the Seahawks covering? This is getting ridiculous,” @chemiclord stated .

Though the 2-point conversion didn’t really matter in the end, there’s no telling how different the game would’ve been had Seattle pulled to within six points instead of eight to close out the third quarter.