At the end of the first half of the Atlanta Falcons' playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle was staring down a 20-0 deficit. The Seahawks ran a promising two-minute drill, but it ended with Russell Wilson getting sacked. Or did it?
By going frame-by-frame through Fox's broadcast, it turned out that, according to the clock displayed on TV, Russell Wilson actually did snap the ball in time — in which case, the refs would've robbed the Seahawks of seven points.
However, Fox later showed the play with the accurate game clock superimposed on the screen, and it turns out that, in fact, Seattle did not get it off: the refs were right.
Plus, even if they had, it didn't look like Seattle's players were all set, which would have resulted in a false start and a ten-second runoff, ending the half anyway.
If there was still time on the clock they weren't set which would have been illegal formation which would have been a :10 runoff.
If there was still time on the clock they weren't set which would have been illegal formation which would have been a :10 runoff.-- Mike Pereira
Correction: They weren't set & that creates a false start which would have been a :10 runoff. Illegal formation does not create a :10 runoff
Correction: They weren't set & that creates a false start which would have been a :10 runoff. Illegal formation does not create a :10 runoff-- Mike Pereira
Here's video of the whole thing, including the sack and the canceled play after the snap.
Sorry, Seattle — and even if you had been robbed by the refs, we could have just chalked it up to karma.