Fiasco In Seattle

When Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright illegally batted that bouncing football out of the end zone on Monday night I thought that something was amiss. When I saw no flag I figured that some situational circumstance made Wright's bat okay. A situational circumstance like the ridiculous rule that says that a fumble into and out of the end zone gives possession to the defense even though they never actually possessed the football. If there's a fumble out of bounds anywhere else on the football field possession goes to the team that last possessed the football. It's this ridiculous rule that prompted Wright to illegally bat the ball out of the end zone. He obviously thought that simply batting the ball would carry the same result as actually possessing it without running the risk of bobbling or dropping it. That would be the smart play if it was legal to do so.

ESPN's halftime show during this tainted Seahawks-Lions game contained a little preview of next week's Monday night game between the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers. In a strange bit of foreshadowing ESPN's preview carried a reference to the Chargers "Holy Roller" game with the Oakland Raiders from 1978. The Raiders benefited from intentionally batting a football a couple of times on the same play to score the game-winning touchdown. Not only did the Raiders get a win that they didn't deserve they changed the game forever. Sounds a lot like this Seahawks-Lions game. Wright's illegal batting of the ball should bring about some change as well. First of all, the NFL has to get rid of this ridiculous rule that allows for a defense to be rewarded with a fumble recovery that they never make. Second of all, and most importantly, it didn't look like the official tasked with making the correct call even knew the rule that he was supposed to enforce. K.J. Wright's intentions were obvious. He was intentionally batting the football out of the end zone. There wasn't a moment when I or any of the millions that have spoken on this thought that Wright's intentions were anything other than batting the ball out of the end zone. Somehow back judge Greg Wilson claimed that he saw the act as inadvertent. He's the only one. And he had the best view of all. About ten feet away. Looking right at Wright from the side. No one intending to catch a football reaches up with one hand and bats it away. That's the last thing one would do if they were actually trying to catch a football. It was an obvious, intentional batting. It's just not possible to interpret the act in any other way yet Wilson somehow found a way. All of the other officials were behind the play and had to defer to Wilson's perfect view. Did he claim that he saw Wright's illegal batting as inadvertent as a cover for not knowing the rule in the heat of the moment? Who knows? It was too obvious of a call to believe anything else and it's further proof that the NFL needs to hire the officials on a full-time basis. The coaches and players work year round for each week's game. Yet the men and woman that officiate each week's games go back to their day jobs after they blow their whistles and throw their flags (or don't throw their flags). The games can't be left to chance. Some have said that this most recent officiating fiasco is a reason to make every play review-able. That couldn't hurt but this one is a call that should have been made correctly in real time.