Seattle outlasts Buffalo in controversial 31-25 win. That was a heck of a game, and ANOTHER wild Monday night game in Seattle, not even the weirdest Monday night game in Seattle recently. We’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s unpack this whole thing.
Bills-Seahawks was only the 3rd-weirdest ‘Monday Night Football’ game in Seattle
Bad referees on Monday night in Seattle are a tradition.
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
It started when things descended into chaotic madness just before halftime. Specifically, when Richard Sherman jumped offsides and hit Bills kicker Dan Carpenter. The referees made three critical mistakes in that sequence that screwed the Bills at the end of the half against Seattle.
Referee failure looms large for the Bills and their fans. The Bills failed to score a winning touchdown on their final drive, but they shouldn’t have needed one in the first place. Tyrod Taylor blasted the "horrible" MNF refs. His coach wasn't happy either. Rex Ryan called botched officiating at the end of the first half "absolutely ridiculous."
Referee explains why he didn’t flag Richard Sherman for roughing Bills’ kicker | NewYorkUpstate.com
NFL senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino says he will address the mistake.
Sherman said he "played until the whistle was blown" on controversial field goal attempt. He also doesn’t care what the league thinks. That wasn't all the controversy he was involved in. Sherman legally leveled a Bills receiver on Buffalo's last play. It looked like illegal contact, but there was nothing illegal about it.
That was the third bizarre Monday Night Football game in Seattle since 2012. Naturally, we need to rank them.
3. Bills-Seahawks, Nov. 7, 2016 -- We don’t even have a nickname for this one yet.
2. BatGate, Oct. 5, 2015, Seahawks 13, Lions 10 -- Kam Chancellor knocked the ball out of Calvin Johnson’s hands at the 1-yard line on what could’ve been the game-winning touchdown. K.J. Wright swatted it out of the back of the end zone, which you cannot do.
1. Fail Mary, Sep. 24, 2012, Seahawks 14, Packers 12 -- Who had the ball, Golden Tate or the Packers? The replacement refs said Tate did and gave Seattle a touchdown. It didn’t take much longer to resolve the labor dispute with the league’s regular officials.
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BILLS LOSE WOOD: Buffalo’s starting center, Eric Wood, broke his leg. This is a tough loss for the Bills. He’s out for the season.
FLYING GRAHAM: Jimmy Graham had two one-handed catches and hurdled a guy in the first half. What. A. Performance.
NICE BLOCK: Tyvis Powell threw a bruising block that took out two Bills players. OUCH!
SHADY DEKED SHERMAN: Watch LeSean McCoy break Richard Sherman’s ankles. He’s fast!
DID BILL & BRADY ENDORSE TRUMP: Donald Trump reads an endorsement letter he says Bill Belichick wrote him. It included a jab at the “negative media” coverage.
POWER RANKINGS: NFL power rankings 2016, Week 10: The Raiders erased doubts and arrived as a contender. There were reasons to doubt the Raiders, but the 7-2 record now looks like a real reflection of the team.
OLD SCHOOL COWBOYS: Are Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott bringing the ‘90s Cowboys back? Dynamic offense? Check. Efficient, mistake-averse quarterback? Check. A handful of questionable decisions off the field? Also check. So are these the 1996 or 2016 Cowboys?
THE NFC EAST IS REALLY GOOD: 2016 NFL standings and playoff picture: The NFC East is too good to laugh at now. The NFC East was garbage last season, and now it’s not. We must laugh at someone, so it’s your turn, AFC North.
BIG BLUE DEFENSE: The Giants defense has been way better than anyone could have thought. A defensive resurgence is keeping the Giants in the playoff chase.
RAMS RIDICULOUSNESS: Jared Goff won’t make his NFL debut until the Rams are eliminated from playoff contention. So like two weeks ago?
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