The Seattle Seahawks beat the Detroit Lions Sunday with an overtime touchdown pass from Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett. Should it have counted?
Right tackle Jake Curhan grabbed ahold of Lions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson on the game-winning play. But officials didn’t throw a flag, and the Seahawks left Detroit with a 37-31 walkoff win.
Here’s the play in question. With Seattle facing third and two from the Detroit four-yard line, Smith took a shotgun snap. Hutchinson beat Curhan off the edge, forcing Smith to scramble right. With Hutchinson in pursuit, Smith found Lockett on the right sideline short of the end zone. Hutchinson, meanwhile, flailed in his failed effort to sack Smith. Lockett caught the ball and turned around to extend it to the pylon for a touchdown.
Another angle shows why Hutchinson was flailing. After he got around Curhan, Curhan turned around and grabbed Hutchinson’s upper right arm. He didn’t hold on for long, but the hold certainly hindered Hutchinson in his pursuit of Smith.
A sack or an incomplete pass with successful pressure from Hutchinson would have likely resulted in a field-goal attempt for the Seahawks in a best-case scenario. That would have allowed the Lions a chance to respond with a drive of their own. But since the first touchdown in overtime ends the game, the game was over in favor of the Seahawks.
Hutchinson, a second-year pro, was asked after the game if he thought he was held. He answered the question like a seasoned veteran concerned about his bank account. He clearly thought he was held — he just wasn’t going to say so.
Aidan Hutchinson was asked about what seemed like a blatant no-call during Geno Smith’s game-winning TD pass to Tyler Lockett in OT.
“I probably won’t speak on that because they’re going to go fine my a–, so it is what it is man.” pic.twitter.com/ojs7HFfQgy
— Jeanna Trotman (@JeannaTrotmanTV) September 17, 2023
“I probably won’t speak on that because they’re gonna go fine my ass,” Hutchinson said. “So, yeah. It is what it is, man. They didn’t call it.”
Lions head coach Dan Campbell told reporters that officials told him the contact was a result of “tangled feet” and that the game “should have never come down to that.”
The Lions fell to 1-1 with the disappointing loss, while the Seahawks improved to the same record.
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