The NFL is blaming a blown call Thursday night on a delay in getting a good enough look on replay.
On the play in question, Seattle punt returner Dee Williams muffed a punt and San Francisco’s Jalen Graham recovered it. That was clear from the replay that was shown during the Prime Video broadcast. But the officials on the field ruled that Williams never touched the ball, and the replay officials let the call stand.
So why did the call stand when replay clearly showed Williams touched the ball? NFL Vice President of Replay Training and Development Mark Butterworth explained after the game that the replay office only saw the conclusive angle at the same time the audience saw it, when referee Craig Wrolstad was announcing that the play would stand.
“Once we had the San Francisco challenge, we were looking to see if the returner did indeed touch the ball,” Butterworth told pool reporter Brady Henderson. “We went through all available angles, and we get the raw feed from the truck. And there was not clear and obvious video evidence that the returner touched the ball. After looking at all available angles, we made the determination that we were going to stand on the call because there was not clear and obvious video evidence. Once Craig made his announcement and they came back from TV, the network had an enhanced shot that they did not send at all until after they played his announcement.”
It was a huge blown call that cost the 49ers the ball in the red zone. The 49ers won anyway, but those are the kinds of mistakes that can change outcomes of games. The NFL absolutely must ensure that it is working with its TV partners to get the best shots of key plays, and fix mistakes — before the referee has announced that the call will stand just as the TV audience is seeing that the call should have been changed.