Field Gulls
This wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the game, but it might have impacted fantasy football scores, prop bets, and Derick Hall’s stat line.
On the final play of the Seattle Seahawks’ 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers, outside linebacker Derick Hall intercepted a lateral attempt for what would ordinarily be a fumble recovery and turnover.
Except this won’t go into the gamebook as a turnover.
Referee Brad Rogers announced a penalty for offensive pass interference on 49ers tight end Erik Saubert (who was very clearly blocking downfield before Brock Purdy threw the ball). He said the penalty was declined, which logically would suggest a turnover as the final play of the game. In the gamebook, the penalty was listed as accepted, which would make no sense from a Seahawks perspective. Evidently, Rogers misspoke, and the rule indicates that this is an automatic “no-play” and therefore no fumble recovery for Hall.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio examined this sequence through the lens of Deebo Samuel 4.5 receptions prop bettors—Samuel had four catches, and the last play would’ve been his fifth—but this statement from the league nevertheless explains what happened.
“As per NFL scoring rules, when an offensive foul occurs on the last play of a half and the offensive team gains yardage on the play, the play is nullified in its entirety. There is no declining of a penalty. The half or game is over. The announcement was incorrect as it should have declared the game over instead of saying the penalty was declined.”
Had the Seahawks had run the lateral back for a touchdown then the play would’ve stood.
Obviously, this isn’t as important as say, consecutive timeouts that may or may not have been called. This is just to clear up something that might have been a bit confusing for some who had a little more riding on the outcome of this game, whether for gambling or fantasy football purposes. There’s no stat correction coming; Samuel finished with four catches, Hall didn’t get his second fumble recovery of the season, and the Seahawks didn’t add to their takeaway total. The most important stat? Seahawks 20, 49ers 17.
