Seahawks get it Wright, but Lions feel wronged after missed batted-ball call

“I was just running to the ball,” K.J. Wright said, “and the ball was right there.”

And just like that Wright found himself virtually alone in his own end zone with less than 2 minutes remaining in a three-point game, chasing a football that teammate Kam Chancellor had knocked loose from Calvin Johnson to prevent what would have been a go-ahead touchdown.

What happened next was anything but straightforward for everyone involved, from Wright to the officials on the field to their boss in New York to an entire country that came away wondering if Seattle got away with one on Monday night (again) against an NFC North opponent (again).

“I think they teach us to knock the ball out of bounds,” Wright said, “so I just wanted to make a smart play and it worked out for us.”

Yes, it did. Seattle beat Detroit 13-10, officials ruling that Johnson’s fumble had bounced through the end zone and awarding Seattle possession by virtue of a touchback. That ruling was erroneous, according to Tony Blandino, the NFL’s vice president in charge of officiating who stated that Wright should have been penalized for deliberately batting the ball, and the Lions should have retained possession and been given the ball inside the Seattle 1.

When asked afterward, Wright didn’t dispute that he batted the ball out of the end zone.

“Is that illegal?” he asked. “Explain that to me.”

Well, that took a trip to the rules book and several question, but Rule 12, Section 4 of the rulebook deals with “Illegal Bats and Kicks.” Article 1a states that a bat is illegal “if any player bats or punches a loose ball in the field of play toward his opponent’s goal line.”

Wright was in the clear here. He was knocked it through his own end zone. However, because it occurred in the end zone, Article 1b applies, deeming it an illegal bat if “any player bats or punches a loose ball (that has touched the ground) in any direction, if it is in either end zone.”

The punishment is a 10-yard penalty. In this case, Blandino stated that it would have been enforced from the spot of Johnson’s fumble, giving Detroit possession inside the 1-yard line.

So why wasn’t it called?

“The back judge was on the play and in his judgment he didn’t feel it was an overt act so he didn’t throw the flag,” Blandino said on the NFL Network.

The decision was a judgment call and specifically not subject to replay review even though it was not only a turnover but occurred in the final 2 minutes, when all challenges are triggered by the replay official.

What makes the play truly odd is that if Wright had attempted to recover the ball and knocked it through the back of the end zone, it would not have been a penalty.

“Had he been just trying to recover it, and knocked it out, it wouldn’t have been in question,” coach Pete Carroll said.

Instead, the officiating of a Monday night game was being scrutinized in a game at Seattle again. In fact, this play happened in the very same end zone where the Seahawks were awarded a touchdown against Green Bay in Week 3 of 2012 on a play in which it appeared Green Bay’s M.D. Jennings had intercepted Wilson’s final pass. Instead, Lance Easley – a replacement official – signaled touchdown, deeming that Golden Tate had secured possession.

Tate was on the other team this time, in his second season with the Lions, and he actually had his arms raised in celebration of what he expected was going to be a Detroit touchdown when Chancellor knocked the ball loose.

It’s what happened after the ball was knocked loose that will have everyone talking.

“It was unfortunate that the officials didn’t know how to do it, for their sakes,” Carroll said. “It’s the way it goes sometimes.”