NFL Officials Admit Blatant Mistake During 49ers-Seahawks Game

The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks met in primetime for a Week 6 Thursday Night Football matchup at Lumen Field.

The visiting 49ers ultimately came out on top, notching a 36-24 final score and handing the Seahawks their third consecutive loss.

While San Francisco went on to win, the referees gave the home-team Seahawks a golden opportunity to mount a comeback with a botched call on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The 49ers punted the ball to Seattle to start the final period. The ball appeared to hit the Seahawks' returner for a muffed punt recovered by the San Francisco kicking team.

The initial call on the field ruled the Seahawks returner did not touch the ball, prompting a coach's challenge from Kyle Shanahan.

The replays shown on Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football broadcast clearly showed the ball make contact with the returner's hand. But after reviewing the footage, referees let the call on the field stand.

NFL VP of instant replay Mark Butterworth admitted the mistake with an explanation postgame.

“Once we had the San Francisco challenge, we were looking to see if the returner did indeed touch the ball. We went through all available angles, and we get the raw feed from the truck. And there was not clear and obvious video evidence that the returner touched the ball," Butterworth said. "After looking at all available angles, we made the determination that we were going to stand on the call because there was not clear and obvious video evidence. Once Craig [Wrolstad] made his announcement and they came back from TV, the network had an enhanced shot that they did not send at all until after they played his announcement.”

The Seahawks will look to stop their losing skid in a Week 7 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. The 49ers will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch.