A thrilling contest between the Lions and Seahawks ended in controversy on Sunday because of, who else, the refs.
Tyler Lockett won the game for Seattle in overtime with a six-yard touchdown catch from Geno Smith. But early on in the play, tackle Jake Curhan appeared to get away with a pretty blatant hold of Aidan Hutchinson.
You be the judge:
Did the refs give the Seahawks a win by not calling holding?
It's tough to argue that wasn't a hold. The offensive lineman clearly impeded Hutchinson and illegally prevented him from getting to Smith. The flag should have been thrown there.
It would have been a costly penalty too. The Seahawks won the game with a touchdown on the play. The flag would have wiped out that score and put them at third-and-12 on the Detroit 16.
We don't know what Seattle would have done from there, but the likelihood of scoring a game-winning touchdown there would certainly have been slim. They probably would have settled for a field goal. The Lions would have at least gotten the chance to respond.
That doesn't mean Detroit definitely would have won the game. There are way to many factors that still would have had to decide the result. It just sucks that the refs missed such a blatant call and didn't let the game play out as it should have.
But these are NFL referees we're talking about and by now fans should come to expect their missed calls.
There were wild swings of emotion for both sides in the game. They went into the fourth quarter separated by just four points. A Lockett touchdown early in the final frame was quickly followed by a 40-yard pick-six to put the Seahawks up by 10.
However, the Lions fought back. Josh Reynolds caught a touchdown pass from Jared Goff with three minutes left. Detroit's defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back and six plays later the Lions were kicking the game-tying field goal to force overtime.
Seattle got the last laugh with an assist from the zebras.
