THE ALMOST UGLY
The officiating: Fans of both teams had reason to be displeased at times with the referees presiding over Sunday’s game. First, they penalized Ryan Fitzpatrick for an illegal forward pass despite him not crossing the line of scrimmage, turning a critical first down into a fourth down. Later, Seattle was flagged for a pair of iffy defensive penalties – unnecessary roughness on Quandre Diggs and pass interference on Ugo Amadi – although neither foul was enforced.
The Seahawks arguably received a gift from the officials in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter. Chris Carson’s fourth-down run appeared to be just short of the first-down marker, based on the spot of the ball and the chain measurement, but the Seahawks were nevertheless awarded a fresh set of downs to put away the game. It was a fortunate break for Seattle, but fans may feel disconcerted that the officiating crew potentially made the difference in a one-score game.
Still, this marks the first time since 2007 and only the fourth in team history the Seahawks had no enforced penalties in a game.
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