The 49ers narrowly escaped Seattle and the opening round of the playoffs, but not a dose of controversy.
Their dramatic 26-21 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday night, eventually won by literal inches on a last-second goal-line stand, is the subject of debate concerning whether it should have even reached that all-the-marbles fourth down.
A down earlier, Russell Wilson spotted Jacob Hollister about to break free from linebacker Fred Warner in the end zone and delivered a pass that sailed wide of both, who were wrapped up with each other. It appeared Hollister initiated the contact past the 5-yard allowance, but Warner intensified it and was still all over the tight end as the potential touchdown became an incomplete pass
A day later, now preparing for a first-round matchup in Philadelphia instead of a bye, Pete Carroll declared to reporters, “Yeah, that was pass interference.”
The Seahawks coach added he “of course” will bring it up to the league as a grievance.
It wasn’t just those who directly felt the consequences who complained about the no-call, which preceded a fourth-down stop by Dre Greenlaw. Ex-coach Tony Dungy, now with NBC, had more criticism for the league for not officially reviewing the play than he had for the on-field officials — a fact Richard Sherman did not appreciate.
So now you want to allow the WR to initiate contact… Push off from the defender and get the P.I. Yea that sounds about right. https://t.co/Rt8x3wQike
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) December 30, 2019
Senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron claimed that officials in New York did in fact review the play (although not in an official capacity), but they didn’t feel the play was close enough to warrant halting the action to take a closer look.
“Based on what we saw, we didn’t see enough to stop the game,” Riveron told a pool reporter Sunday. “… We see the offensive player come in and initiate contact on the defensive player — nothing that rises to the level of a foul which significantly hinders the defender. The defender then braces himself. And there is contact then by the defender on the receiver.”
