The NFL's command center may need an upgrade.
The league was unable to overturn an apparent turnover by the Seahawks during a 36-24 loss at home to the 49ers because there was no adequate video showing Seattle erasing a punt return.
The ball apparently hit the fingertips of Seattle's Dee Williams and was recovered by San Francisco, but 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan's attempts were in vain.
“After we did the San Francisco Challenge, we were trying to see if the returner actually touched the ball,” said NFL Replay Vice President of Training Development. Mark Butterworth told Poole reporters:. “We looked at every angle, got raw feed from the truck, and there was no clear video evidence that the returner touched the ball.
“After considering all angles and there was no clear, unequivocal video evidence, we made the decision to take the call. When Craig (Rolstad) made the announcement and they came back from television, the network stepped up. broadcast the shot, but they didn't send any until after they aired his announcement.''
The NFL rarely makes clear, unambiguous decisions that aren't based on judgment. So pass interference is covered here, but Thursday's failure calls into question that review process.
Thankfully for the 49ers and the league, this play did not affect the final outcome.
The 49ers led 23-17 and punted to Seattle to start the fourth quarter. If the 49ers' recovery had been important, they would have had a great scoring opportunity to extend their lead.
The Seahawks got one first down, then punted and couldn't capitalize.
It's clear where the NFL believes the blame lies.
“And just to be clear, they did not share that perspective with us throughout the review process,” Butteros told Pool Reporter.
Butterworth said that while the play had not taken place at the time the video was released, the NFL cannot change the call at that point.
“I spoke with (NFL Rules Analyst) Walt Anderson at the command center in New York, and what they said was that we showed an enhancement where the ball touched the finger,” Amazon rules analyst Terry Macaulay said. They didn't understand the video.” On the broadcast. “What they had was raw footage from our cameras, and it wasn't clear or obvious to them that they had touched their fingers.”
The Seahawks ultimately punted, sparing the NFL the crisis that would have occurred had Seattle fought back to secure the victory.
The 49ers (3-3) won the tiebreaker and are now alone in first place in the NFC West, while the Seahawks (3-3) have lost three straight games, including two at home.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said he chose his words carefully to avoid a fine, but was surprised it wasn't reversed.
“Since it's 'Thursday Night Football,' I thought there would be a lot of camera angles,” Shanahan said. “Once (staff member Brian Hampton) believed it happened, we threw it thinking we could get a little better angle, and they just said he didn’t (touch it). And about two minutes later, I heard everyone in the (coaches') box panicking, saying they saw another angle and it was a fumble.
“They only know what they see, so they weren't seeing what I thought everyone else was seeing on TV.”
