The San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 36-24 on Thursday Night Football in Week 6. The score might have been different except the 49ers were on the wrong side of a bad call that was not corrected upon review.
The 49ers punted on the first play of the fourth quarter and the ball hit a Seahawks player and was then recovered by San Francisco. The 49ers challenged the call on the field and replay showed that the ball was touched by a Seahawks player and recovered by the Niners, but somehow the officials missed it on review.
Prime's rules expert Terry McAulay disagreed with the call on the broadcast when it was announced.
"We've seen two different angles where it's pretty clear it hits the finger of the receiving team player and then there's a clear recovery...I believe this should have been reversed to San Francisco's football."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 11, 2024
Terry McAuley disagreed with this call being upheld. pic.twitter.com/j56E25TAZN
He was not alone in being confused about how the call wasn't overturned. Then a few minutes later he came back with an explanation that isn't going to satisfy.
Terry McAulay: They (the command center) did not get our enhanced video that we showed - the ball touching the finger. What they had was the raw feed from our cameras. And it was not clear and obvious to them that it touched the finger. pic.twitter.com/88GxRiHqru
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 11, 2024
"Yeah Al, I spoke with Walt Anderson in the command center in New York and what they're telling me they did not get our enhanced video that we showed the ball touching the finger," McAulay explained. "What they had was the raw feed from our cameras and it was not clear and obvious to them that it touched the finger."
As many have pointed out, this is a wild thing to admit and then have McAulay relay on the broadcast because the NFL is supposed to have access to every angle. Most people will probably agree that the fans at home should not see the right angle if the people in charge of getting the calls right and affecting the actual game can't.
Wild turn of events for that earlier replay controversy. Per Amazon's Terry McAulay, the NFL did not see the angle during its review that Amazon showed its viewers. Replay officials are supposed to have access to every angle instantaneously. From 2023:https://t.co/qE4RwR6b5e
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 11, 2024
This was a very bad moment for the NFL. Luckily it didn't change the outcome of the game.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as TNF Refs Miss Huge Call Between Seahawks, 49ers Because They Didn’t Get Prime’s ‘Enhanced Video'.
