Everyone is familiar with the epic “Fail Mary” from last year’s Packers-Seahawks game, when Golden Tate was awarded a touchdown for a ball that looked an awful lot like an interception.
Well, the Packers got screwed again yesterday by an embarrassingly blown call by the refs. Except this time, the NFL doesn’t even have the excuse that it was a replacement ref.
As you’ll see in the video above, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was trying to scramble for a first down on 3rd-and-6 when Packers linebacker Clay Matthews pulled one of the dirtier moves in recent NFL history. As Kaepernick ran out of bounds, Matthews launched himself and grabbed the QB by the neck, dragging him to the turf.
The referees immediately threw a flag for a persona foul and the two teams got into a nasty scrap when offensive lineman Joe Staley stood up for Kaepernick.
And, of course, the refs threw an offsetting penalty on the Niners.
But here’s where the referees screwed up. Kaepernick came up short on the third-down run, but instead of calling the offsetting penalties correctly and making it fourth down, the refs gave the 49ers another third down. And, oops, the 49ers scored a touchdown on the next play.
The game was 7-7 in the second quarter at the time, so you really never know how the game is going to follow from there. (Flaw of the predetermined outcome and all.) It meant the Packers were chasing four points, assuming the Niners make the field goal, for the rest of the game.
The 49ers ended up winning the game, 34-28.
And maybe we can get some replacement refs for the regular refs now.
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports. He never makes a mistake. Ever.
