Did Referees Miss Crucial Call to Cost Lions Win over Seahawks?

As if Monday night's 13-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks wasn't disappointing enough for the Detroit Lions, it turns out a crucial missed call on this play helped contribute to the defeat at CenturyLink Field.

Down by three points with under two minutes remaining, the Lions were driving for a chance to earn the go-ahead touchdown. On 3rd-and-1, Matthew Stafford hit Calvin Johnson across the field, and it appeared the receiver was headed for the end zone.

However, safety Kam Chancellor made a huge play to save the game for the Seahawks.

The ball was knocked loose before Johnson could get into the end zone, preventing the touchdown. With the ball eventually going out of the back of the end zone, the referee called a touchback for Seattle. The home team got the ball from the 20-yard line and needed just one first down to seal the win to move to 2-2 on the year. Detroit fell to 0-4 after the loss.

However, in viewing the play, it is clear Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright intentionally knocked the ball out of bounds, which is against the rules. Retired official Gerry Austin joined the booth immediately to discuss the rule:

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Former NFL referee Gerry Austin says it should have been an illegal bat by KJ Wright in the end zone. Ball should have went back to Detroit.

— ESPN Monday Night (@ESPNMondayNight) October 6, 2015"

According to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports, NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino agreed:

He also added on NFL Network that it is not a reviewable play, however, per Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com:

Article 8 of the NFL rulebook describes the issue at hand:

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A player may not bat or punch: 

(a) A loose ball (in field of play) toward his opponent’s goal line or in any direction in either end zone. 

(b) A ball in player possession. 

Note: If there is any question as to whether a defender is stripping or batting a ball in player possession, the official(s) will rule the action as a legal act (stripping the ball). 

Exception: A forward or backward pass may be batted, tipped, or deflected in any direction at any time by either the offense or the defense. 

Note: A pass in flight that is controlled or caught may only be thrown backward, if it is thrown forward it is considered an illegal bat.

No player may deliberately kick any ball except as a punt, dropkick, or placekick.

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If referees deemed the play illegal on the field, the ball should have reverted back to Detroit at the spot of the fumble, plus a penalty that moves the ball half the distance to the goal. Therefore, it should have been first down for the Lions at about the six-inch line. That certainly would have made a major difference in the game.

One justification was that the back judge didn't believe the bat was intentional, per Blandino:

Despite this explanation, former vice president of officiating Mike Pereira believes there will be some sort of discipline for the officials:

When asked about the situation after the game, Lions head coach Jim Caldwell didn't want to discuss it:

It's hard to blame him, since there is nothing that could be done about it after the fact. This will simply remain a disappointing defeat regardless of whether the NFL makes an official statement apologizing for the incident.

On the other hand, there is no guarantee the Lions would have gotten into the end zone, even with a fresh set of downs. They were still facing one of the best defenses in the NFL and only averaged 2.9 yards per carry on the night. In 58-plus prior minutes of game time, Detroit's offense only contributed three points.

Meanwhile, even if the team scored right away there still would have been about 90 seconds remaining for the Seahawks to earn the win with a touchdown. Considering Russell Wilson has had five game-winning drives in each of his first three years in the NFL, it would be hard to bet against him.

The Lions weren't directly robbed of a win, but poor officiating clearly cost them a chance to get a victory. Considering how dead the offense looked for much of the game, this is all they could have asked for in the closing minutes.

Unfortunately, we will never know what would have happened if the play had been ruled correctly.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for more year-round sports analysis.