Did Lions home cooking screw Seahawks on late game calls?

No one is happy when the refs become the main characters on a night of NFL football. The zebras just love to be the center of attention.

On Monday Night Football between the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks, flags seemed to fly on every other play. The most consequential one of those essentially ended Seattle's hopes of a comeback.

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

Have a look for yourself.

The Seahawks trailed by eight at that point in the game. And they were driving. The penalty pushed them back and forced a punt. The Lions went on to score a touchdown to go ahead by two scores. So it was an extremely costly penalty.

Did the refs screw the Seahawks with offensive pass interference call?

I can see how they made that call though. Lockett is a veteran. He should be well versed in how to disguise his pick. Instead, he ran straight into the defender with his arms up like he was going in to block. Is it a bit ticky-tack to call on such a key play? Sure. But the refs were consistent. On the Lions' ensuing drive, they flagged Brock Wright for offensive pass interference in the endzone.

The Seahawks have a better argument about the pass interference that wasn't called in the endzone as a defensive back mauled DK Metcalf.

Calling ticky-tack OPI makes a lot less sense when you're letting that kind of contact go.

Seattle failed to score on that drive, turning it over on downs near the goal line. Would they have had a better chance to score a touchdown if the flag had been thrown there? Perhaps. They did have their opportunties and couldn't break through.