Another week, another NFL officiating controversy as referee Craig Wrolstad made a call that could have significantly impacted the game. After a 49ers punt, their special teams made a great play by recovering the ball deep in Seattle territory.
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However, since the Seahawks’ return man had signaled for a fair catch, the officials initially threw a flag on the 49ers for making contact with the Seattle players.
Upon review, the officials overturned the penalty, determining that a Seahawks player had pushed the 49ers player into his own teammate, causing the trip and preventing the catch.
Although the 49ers recovered the punt, the referee Craig Wrolstad awarded the ball to Seattle, ruling that the return man hadn’t touched it. Kyle Shanahan and his players, who were convinced that it was a fumble, challenged the call on the field.
But the officials, despite watching the play for a long time from different angles, upheld the ruling on the field. However, a closer look at the big screen and broadcasting cameras clearly showed that the ball had actually touched the Seahawks player’s finger. Therefore, the ruling should have been overturned to a fumble, making it the Niners’ ball.
Awful: The ball CLEARLY touched Seattle’s punt returner’s finger, yet the call was not overturned.
One of the worst missed calls I’ve ever seen.pic.twitter.com/95R2gN6p01
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 11, 2024
But refs failed to do that, allowing Seattle to have possession which they ended up using to score a TD. Instead, it could have been the 49ers who could have scored a TD and put the game out of their opponent’s reach.
The ruling incensed the fans, who called out the officials again for the mind-boggling error. They couldn’t believe how after a replay the officials missed the obvious call, calling it insanity. Others called the game fixed, while many questioned the referees in the video booth who made a glaring error. See for yourself,
Absolute insanity. Refs have Seahawks ML
— Ben (@HowUBenFeller) October 11, 2024
Another chimed in and added,
The fix is in…so obvious
— CZ (@cczar93) October 11, 2024
A user commented,
Are they drunk and passed out in the replay booth?
— @Matthew Betley (@MatthewBetley) October 11, 2024
Others stated,
Complete bullshit. No way to defend this @NFL
— Stretch (@StretchDontMiss) October 11, 2024
The referees blamed the poor officiating for not having the conclusive camera angle, stating that they didn’t have the enhanced video. In real-time, it’s easier to miss the call, but any trained replay officials could see the ball touching the finger and changing trajectory. This was an unacceptable call from refs who work for a $20 billion league.
Thankfully, the 49ers didn’t have to pay a high price in the end as they ended up winning the match 36-24. They are now 3-3 and head into a mini bye-week before taking on the Chiefs in game week 7.
