“Got to Live With It”: Mike Macdonald Reacts to Controversial Cooper Kupp Call That Cost Seahawks the Win Against 49ers

NFL“Got to Live With It”: Mike Macdonald Reacts to Controversial Cooper Kupp Call That Cost Seahawks the Win Against 49ersAdd us on Google

NFL“Got to Live With It”: Mike Macdonald Reacts to Controversial Cooper Kupp Call That Cost Seahawks the Win Against 49ersAdd us on Google

The Seattle Seahawks tasted defeat for the second time this season, and this time it came against big-time rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. This loss will perhaps be tough to get over, particularly because of that controversial call on Cooper Kupp’s catch late in the game.

With less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, Sam Darnold found Kupp on fourth-and-10 as Seattle looked to sustain its drive. Kupp gained approximately 10 yards, but officials ruled that he failed to reach the first-down marker as he went out of bounds, sparking controversy. The play was reviewed, and the ruling stood.

“I don’t know. They said he was short, so you’ve got to live with it,” said Macdonald when asked about the last play of the game during the postgame presser.

The video of the wild finish of the game has been doing rounds on social media. Darnold connected with Kupp to gain on fourth-and-10, but the receiver broke away from a defender and advanced toward the marker. Attempting to avoid Malik Mustapha, Kupp launched himself forward with the ball before coming down near the sideline.

The initial ruling had Kupp short of the marker, although the replay showed a razor-thin margin. He remained in bounds and appeared to stretch the ball beyond the first-down line, but officials had to determine whether it crossed the marker before reaching the out-of-bounds line, which again is no easy job, of course.

Under Rule 15 in the league’s guidelines, officials can review whether the football reached the line for a gain before a ball carrier was ruled as being out of bounds. However, reviewing officials require clear video evidence to overturn the decision. In Cooper Kupp’s case, the officials were surely tested; it was very difficult to decipher if Kupp was good or not.

The decision even left Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt surprised on the broadcast. So much so that the NFL GOAT wanted to seek more clarity on the situation and asked FOX rules analyst Dean Blandino for his take.

As pointed out by the expert, with Kupp’s feet in bounds, officials look at where the ball crosses the sideline to determine the spot.

“Take that sideline and a plane of glass going up. Where does it cross?” Blandino said. “This is so close.” He eventually suggested that the officiating crew will ultimately stand by the ruling.

Even though it sparked controversy, all of them agreed on how difficult the officials’ job must have been.

With no definitive angle available, Burkhardt felt the spot amounted to “just a total guess.” Brady also admitted that the horizontal camera views made the play “impossible” to judge.

“I knew it was close, but yeah, clearly it was short,” Kupp said of the moment. “So, just not enough there, and you’ve got to find a way to get that fourth down.”

Now that Macdonald and the Seahawks have accepted their fate, the loss is going to sting more. After all, the defeat came against the NFC West rival. Walking into the game, both were close, San Francisco at 4-0 and Seattle at 3-1. Had the officials given Kupp a first down, it would have placed both the 49ers and Seahawks at 4-1.

The Seahawks needed a miracle anyway for a win. Even if Kupp was not ruled short, Seattle would have had to throw deep to secure a chance to score. With time running out, it might not have been possible.

Even though it’s a long way to go, it’s now to be seen whether the decision that was determined by inches would turn out to be costly for Macdonald’s team at the end.