While the Seattle Seahawks are just two days removed from a heartbreaking overtime loss against the Denver Broncos, there was a big improvement from their previous loss to the San Francisco 49ers that felt like rubbing salt in the wounds.
Remember when Jaxon Smith-Njigba took a big hit from 49ers safety Malik Mustapha on Seattle’s final drive of the game? It’s 1st and 10 at midfield, two plays before JSN can’t bring down a long ball from Sam Darnold. JSN was rocked after Mustapha’s hard hit, and no penalty was called for hitting a defenseless receiver.
Well, the NFL fined Mustapha $6,998 for a “hit on a defenseless player” violation. That’s as close as you can get to a public admission that the on-field officials made the wrong no-call. If a flag is thrown, Seattle is on the 49ers 35-yard line and in field goal range on the play.
Now, this doesn’t mean the Seahawks force overtime or win the game, especially when the Seahawks offense has a sack or turnover waiting to happen all afternoon. But alone, this missed call probably changed how the game ended. It was a huge miss by the referees and there is no way around it now that the NFL is saying it should be a penalty.
No one from this game was fined. Elijah Arroyo may have been assessed a personal foul penalty after he punched Renardo Green at the end of Sam Darnold’s second interception, but a closer inspection indicated that Arroyo was clearly trying to punch the ball at the same time as Green went to the ground.