Geno Smith and the Seahawks made the playoffs by virtue of defeating the Rams in week 18 and the Lions winning against the Green Bay Packers, but some officiating may have helped them.
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The playoff scenario dialed down to three teams in the final week. The Lions, Packers, and Seahawks all had a chance to nab the final spot in the NFC.
Green Bay simply had to beat Detroit to make it to the playoffs. The Seahawks needed some outside help to make it in as did the Lions.
For Seattle, they needed to beat the Rams and then hope the Lions won. For Detroit, they had to beat Green Bay and then hope that the Seahawks lost.
In the end, Seattle secured a win against the Rams, and the Lions beat the Packers for good measure to keep their divisional rivals out of the playoffs. Now, Seattle will face off against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Wild Card round.
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Geno Smith and the Seahawks may have been beneficiaries of poor officiating
Despite beating the Rams, the officiating in that game is being heavily criticized. Many executives and coaches have come forward to say that the NFL needs to reevaluate decisions when it comes to training NFL refs.
There were several missed and controversial calls in the Seahawks-Rams game. The NFL competition committee labeled the Seahawks and Rams game “as the worst officiated game of the year.”
Another source had sympathy for the Lions. “The Lions should be livid,” a source spoke out and said to ESPN. “It was an awful way for them to end their season.”
For example, in the fourth quarter, Rams DE Jonah Williams was called for running into the kicker against Seahawks punter Michael Dickson. However, NFL rules stipulate that if a player is pushed into the kicker, the penalty shouldn’t be called. This was exactly the case in Williams’ situation, but the refs missed it.
There were also calls that the refs made one way but not the other. CB Jalen Ramsey was called for unnecessary roughness against QB Geno Smith. After the flag, DK Metcalf poked his hand into Ramsey’s eye, but he was not called for it.
Other calls marked the end of the game which Seattle won in overtime. It was a poorly called game, and hopefully, for teams and fans going forward, games will be refereed better.
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