Should there have been a flag at the end of Patriots-Seahawks?
By David Rouben
The rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots was as great as advertised, but did the refs get the call right on the final play?
Seattle Seahawks fans had to digest the end of Super Bowl XLIX for two years before they could get another crack at the New England Patriots. While a win hardly did enough to repair those damages, the fans and Pete Carroll still got a lot of satisfaction in winning at Foxborough.
After being ridiculed for so many years for not handing it off to Marshawn Lynch at the one-yard line, it was the Patriots’ turn to show them how it was done. The game essentially came down to a reverse-Super Bowl scenario. But the Pats needed all four downs, and ultimately couldn’t solve the Seahawks defense as Seattle came up with a crucial goal line stand.
A lot of people will try to say there was pass interference on Kam Chancellor. You be the judge:
It didn’t look like a pass interference upon first viewing; Chancellor did an excellent job of covering Rob Gronkowski on the play. If anything, a flag should’ve been thrown on Gronk for offensive pass interference, especially if he had scored.
A part of me wanted to see the Patriots score on a pass play at the goal line for A) the Pete Carroll memes and B) because the Seahawks unnecessarily went for two earlier in the quarter.
As you would expect, Twitter was up in flames over the whole incident:
KAM CHANCELLOR GRABBED GRONK AND PULLED HIM DOWN. OBVIOUS PASS INTERFERENCE. BUT REFS DIDN'T HAVE GUTS TO CALL IT AND DECIDE GAME.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 14, 2016
Here's an electoral map of people who thought was defensive pass interference. pic.twitter.com/MhuKkX2Vlm
— FanDuel Research (numberFire) (@FanDuelResearch) November 14, 2016
People seriously cant think thats pass interference you cant be that biased lmao. They both were holding on to each other...
— Nick | #1 Jimmy Butler Fan | WTA 👑 (@KoreanInAKayak) November 14, 2016
Regardless, it was a great play by Chancellor, who the Seahawks so desperately needed back after missing their last four games.
Barring another Super Bowl meeting, these two teams won’t meet again until 2020, so it was only fitting that they put on a show. At a time when everyone is talking about the NFL’s poor ratings, they’re glad they had a week like this.
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They had two marquee matchups this week with this and Cowboys vs. Steelers, and both of them lived up to their billing. Now let’s see if the NFL can carry this momentum through to the end of the season.