Did the Lions’ home cooking screw the Seahawks on late game calls?

Nobody is happy when the referees become the main actors on an NFL football night. The zebras simply love to be the center of attention.

Flags seemed to fly every other game on Monday Night Football between the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks. The most consequential of these essentially ended Seattle’s hopes of a comeback.

When Jaxon Smith-Njigba converted a fourth down, the referees assessed an offensive pass interference penalty on wide receiver Tyler Lockett. They felt he had set a pick to block the defender and free his teammate.

Take a look for yourself.

At this point in the game, the Seahawks trailed by eight. And they drove. The penalty pushed them back and forced a punt. The Lions scored a touchdown and took a two-point lead. So it was an extremely costly punishment.

I can imagine how they made that call, though. Lockett is a veteran. He should be good at disguising his choice. Instead, he ran straight into the defender with his arms raised as if to block him. Is it a bit tricky to rely on such a key game? Secure. But the referees were consistent. On the Lions’ ensuing drive, they reported Brock Wright for offensive pass interference in the end zone.

The Seahawks have a better argument for the pass interference that didn’t go off in the end zone when a defensive back mauled DK Metcalf.

It makes a lot less sense to call Ticky-Tack OPI if you give up that kind of contact.

Seattle failed to score on this drive and turned the game over on downs near the goal line. Would they have had a better chance of scoring a touchdown if the flag had been thrown there? Perhaps. They had their chances and couldn’t break through.