http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...hawks-got-away-with-a-penalty-on-onside-kick/
AP
The officials corrected one mistake on the Seahawks’ onside kick at the start of overtime against the Rams on Sunday, giving the Rams the ball after first wrongly ruling that the Rams had committed an invalid fair catch signal. But the officials made another mistake that they failed to correct.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher says the NFL has admitted that the Seahawks should have been flagged for hitting Rams receiver
Bradley Marquez after he signaled for a fair catch on the onside kick. In the confusion that began with the officials wrongly flagging Marquez for an invalid fair catch signal, they failed to realize that the Seahawks had committed the penalty.
Fisher says he told the officials after they corrected their first mistake that they also needed to enforce the penalty on the Seahawks, which would have moved the ball from the 50-yard line to the 35. But the officials didn’t listen to Fisher, a longtime member of the Competition Committee who’s well-versed in the rulebook.
“They just said, ‘We’re going to give you the ball right here. We’re not going to re-kick, so let’s go,’’’ Fisher said, via the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “
I just couldn’t convince them to enforce the penalty because they just wouldn’t put the ball on the 35-yard-line.’’
Fisher said that it was such an unusual play that he’s not surprised it wasn’t officiated perfectly, and he appreciates the league acknowledging the error.
“The thing is, when have we seen that before? It just doesn’t come up,’’ Fisher said. “I talked to [NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino] last night and he explained it and we were right. He said, ‘No, they made a mistake.’”
The Rams ended up kicking a field goal on the first possession of overtime and winning the game by stopping the Seahawks’ subsequent possession, so things ended well for St. Louis. But referee Jeff Triplette and his crew were far from perfect.