Roughing the kicker wasn't called on Sherman because it wasn't roughing the kicker. Sherman touched the ball before he touched the kicker. He probably knows the rules better than anyone on the field. And you could argue that that play at the end of the half kept the game from going into overtime. Go Seahawks!

that D is tired. like desperately-need-a-bye-week-they-know-they're-not-getting tired.

because the running game is shit. Christine Michael Sr. is shit, and the 'Hawks knew it last year when they cut him. the O line is even worse. Tom Cable isn't a miracle worker.

they scored 3 points in the 2nd half.

@1: Yep, which is why is should have been unnecessary roughness instead of roughing the kicker, as the head of NFL officiating has stated. Since it is not really by the rules when you try to snap a kicker's leg off at the knee.

Add that officiating fuckup to the very next one when the refs all but forced the Bills to take a delay of game penalty by not spotting the ball until time was almost up, and you have a game where the refs forcibly inserted themselves into the outcome. AGAIN.

Although it will be funny to watch Carroll lose his shit the second a penalty gets called on Seattle next week. He does love a good conspiracy after all...

Additional bonus Michael Sr. criticism: don't showboat before you get in the end zone. You haven't earned that luxury.

@4 is correct. Refs made the right call. Also, Carpenter shouldn't haven't gone all soccer player and faked an injury, requiring the training staff to come onto the field and Carpenter to come out of the game. That likely led to the clock confusion and the delay of game penalty.

@6: The NFL's head of officiating, after watching the play multiple times, disagrees with you. Also, injuries (faked or otherwise) do not typically lead to refs not having any idea what the play clock is. Hell, the confusion was not even on the same play! They did fine on the play right after the faked injury...

Seattle got away with a huge one from the officials (yet again). Just admit it.

@6: Oh, and Pete Carroll disagrees with you too. He said in an interview that Sherman should have been called for unnecessary roughness.

@8: Oh, really? Feel free to post a link to the Pete Carroll interview you heard. I did hear Carroll say that unnecessary roughness should've been called IF the whistle had been blown (which it hadn't).

@7 He's making stuff up as he goes along, just like the rest of us.

If that were instead a live ball, it would have been a jim-dandy play. You can't penalize a defense player for not stopping at the whistle when the offense doesn't. The only case for Unnecessary Roughness is that the play was dead - but that didn't stop the kicker from trying to kick. Other than "not be offsides" (which the team was penalized for at the time), I'm not sure what you'd want a defender to do differently.

@10: Yeah, especially since we get fucked every year by Aaron Rodgers drawing the defense offsides and getting a free play because the refs sit on their whistle.