NFL officials have once again screwed over the 49ers with a pivotal blown call in a game against the Seahawks.
On their second-to-last possession of the game, the Niners were stopped on the Seattle 42-yard line in a fourth-and-6 situation, forcing them to punt the ball away with 2:45 left in the game. As the ball was snapped, officials stopped the play, appearing to grant the Seahawks a timeout. However, Seattle had just called a timeout at the end of the previous play, meaning the Seahawks should have been flagged for consecutive timeouts, a 5-yard penalty. Instead, officials huddled together briefly and brought the teams back onto the field, as if nothing had happened.
Fox rules analyst, and former NFL referee, Mike Pereira joined KNBR’s new midday show with Greg Papa and Greg Silver on Monday to discuss what happened. Pereira concluded that the officials botched the call
“It is clear that Seattle asked for a second timeout,” Pereira said. “What you are to do when a team asks for a timeout when they’re not entitled to it — so either they’re out of timeouts or they’ve already called one in that same dead-ball period — what you do is ignore it. Now, it didn’t get ignored. It got granted.
“So what is the rule? Is it simply a do-over at that point because the officials erroneously granted that? No, it is a 5-yard penalty. Even though the official shouldn’t have stopped it, when he does, then it’s a 5-yard penalty. That’s a rule. To me, it’s kinda one of those unforgivables, and they recognized it.”
As if that weren’t enough, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Sunday that the officials informed him the Seahawks never called a second timeout. He then said Monday that had the penalty been called, giving the 49ers the extra 5 yards to put them in a fourth-and-1 situation on the Seahawks’ 37-yard line, he wouldn’t have punted and instead would have gone for the first-down conversion or a field goal.
This is the second time officials have messed up a big call against the 49ers during this divisional matchup. During the Seahawks-Niners game last month, officials missed a clear muffed recovery that should have given possession to San Francisco, but instead, it was called a downed punt and Seattle got possession of the ball.
The blown call wasn’t the be-all and end-all for the Niners on Sunday. Their defense still had a chance to stop the Seahawks but ultimately gave up a game-losing 80-yard drive to fall 20-17 to a division rival.
But in a game that ultimately came down to the final possession, it’s hard not to think about what might have been if the penalty against the Seahawks had been called correctly.
