Another Bad Call To Add To The Post Below

I should have included an additional bad call in my Packer-Seahawk analysis in the post below this one.

On the Packers’ second drive of the game (after the refs took away a score on the first drive), the Packers got the ball back after an interception that was returned to the Seahawk 4.  The refs called a taunting penalty on the Packers, which moved the ball back to the 19 and resulted in a field goal.  The penalty probably cost the Packers a touchdown, but I have no issue with the call.

With 1:25 left in regulation, Marshawn Lynch scored the go-ahead touchdown for Seattle, and made an obscene gesture.  The league fined him $20,000 for it, but the refs did not penalize him.  Had the unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty been called, Seattle would have kicked off from its 20 and not its 35, giving the Packers much better field position, and possibly the opportunity to score a winning touchdown instead of a tying field goal in the last minute of regulation.  Interesting that the penalty was called on the Packers, probably costing them a TD, but not on Seattle.  Of course the league has now said it will penalize Lynch 15 yards if he does this in the Super Bowl.  In addition, the NFL fined Seattle receiver Chris Matthews $11,050 for making the same gesture after Lynch’s TD.  So, TWO players committed unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties, which the league admitted by the fines, but neither penalty was called and the league said they would call the penalty in the next game.