NFL says Seahawks win will stand despite controversial call
NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL conceded Tuesday that a bad call cost the Green Bay Packers the game while upholding the Seattle Seahawks' victory.
As coaches, players and fans - and even athletes in other sports - ripped the use of replacement refs, the league met with its locked-out officials Tuesday in an attempt to resolve the impasse.
Two people with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press that the sides were meeting Tuesday. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were not made public.
The NFL said Seattle's last-second touchdown pass Monday should not have been overturned - but acknowledged Seahawks receiver Golden Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference before the catch for a 14-12 victory.
The ire around football at the struggles of the replacements had been steadily building this season, and it reached an apex Monday with what everybody had feared would happen: a highly questionable call deciding a game.
On the final play of "Monday Night Football," Russell Wilson heaved a 24-yard pass into a scrum in the end zone with Seattle trailing 12-7. Tate shoved away a defender with both hands, and the NFL acknowledged Tuesday he should have been penalized, which would have clinched a Packers victory. But that cannot be reviewed by instant replay.
Tate and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings then both got their hands on the ball, though the Packers insisted Jennings had clear possession for a game-ending interception.
"It was pinned to my chest the whole time," Jennings said.
Instead, the officials ruled on the field that the two had simultaneous possession, which counts as a reception. Once that happened, the NFL said, the referee was correct that no indisputable visual evidence existed on review to overturn the touchdown call.
"The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review," the league said in a statement.
Saying there was no indisputable evidence, though, is not the same as confirming the initial call was correct. When the players came down with the ball, television showed one official standing over the pile ruling touchdown, while another next to him did not signal a score.
On his weekly appearance on 710 AM, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made no apologies Tuesday, saying, "The league backed it up and game over, we win."
"Golden makes an extraordinary effort. It's a great protection; it's a great throw. It's a great attempt at the ball and he wins the battle," he said. "They were right on the point looking right at it, standing right over the thing and they reviewed it. Whether they missed the push or not - obviously they missed the push in the battle for the ball - but that stuff goes on all the time."
The NFL locked out the officials in June after their contract expired. Unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, the league opened the season with replacements, most with experience only in lower levels of college football.
. They should just cancel the rest of the games. the refs are so confused out there. they are calling penalties more then they should,,and of course dont know what there calling. Its not real football. its like watching a game put together with a bunch of neighborhood kids. They should of had this all worked out before the season started,,oh also why not bring back sports action? I would rather watch golf now , which i hate
Corporate football lost me as a fan when they changed the names of all the stadiums from names of MVP's and old greats to the names of multinational corporations.
Time to end this gamble with replacement officials. And as for not correcting mistakes? Don't they have erasers on the ends of pencils? And don't they have instant replay available to correct call errors? Come on, get with the program!
 @jpk The correction should have been made on the field or in the replay booth, certainly. But as bad as that call was, I also agree with the league's position of not reviewing and reversing calls after the game is finished. That opens up a whole new can of worms there -
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Bad calls have always been and always will be part of the game. It's why the review and challenge rules are in place. Unfortunately they are a much bigger issue at the moment than anyone wants them to be, but day-after game editing seems even worse yet to me.
 @Ifishsum  @jpkÂ
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Of course no one has said the most obvious thing:
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All scoring plays are reviewed automatically by the booth as part of a rules change this year. Those officials are NOT part of the strike and are the regular full-time officials.
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So why wasn't this call fixed?
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 @Repoman  @Ifishsum  @jpk Maybe they were trying to make up for the TD they help the Packers get earlier?Â
Even before the TD, that was the most horribly officiated game I think I have ever seen...with the possible exception of a US/USSR Olympic basketball game in 1972.
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If nothing else, the NFL ought to align the officials and players contract years. Replacement refs with replacement players would be a real treat.
I am thinking the superbowl win that the refs took away from Seattle was almost worse. Â
It is what it is. I could have gone either way, and in reality, no one is going to be happy with the outcome. Sports are really getting to be quite the joke, and thats a shame for the teams, the fans, for everyone involved. These are replacement refs, I'm sure they did the best they could. But they might as well have targets on their backs instead of the stripes.
That's right Goodell, time to double-down.
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Take the fight to the unions. Don't back down.
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See how successful the NHL has been in the last few years having won against its unions using lockouts.
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You keep up the good work. One day the NFL will make money like the NHL does.
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yes and thats why they reviewed it and made the crappy decision..they were afraid the seahawks fans would tear the statdium up,and the refs would not get off the feild alive  without getting pop and beer and candy apples thrown at them.
In close games teams and coaches are now going to blame the replacement refs for their loss. But boy if its a blowout you can bet they will praise them for their excellent calling of the game.
The refs were really from Foot Locker!