SEATTLE, Wash. — With 15 seconds left in a game between the Seahawks and 49ers that would decide the NFC West and a great deal of the NFC playoff picture. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw a pass to tight end Jacob Hollister from the San Francisco six-yard line. Guarding Hollister was Fred Warner, who… well, let’s just say was very intent on making sure Hollister didn’t catch the ball.
Tony Corrente’s crew didn’t call Warner with pass interference, which took the Seahawks from third to fourth down. And on that game-deciding fourth down, Hollister took another pass right down to the goal line, but was down just before the ball broke the plane.
The 49ers won a thrilling game, 26-21, and we’ll never know what might have happened had Warner been called for pass interference as he should have been. As is, the 49ers now have the top seed in the NFC, while Seattle drops to the fifth seed.
“I’d have to look at the film, but it felt like he grabbed me,” Hollister said from the locker room after the game.
Quite a consequential mistake, and certainly not the first for an officiating crew in the 2019 NFL season.
