SEATTLE — Kam Chancellor usually makes an impact with bone-jarring hits in the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive secondary.
But on Monday night, Chancellor helped win a game the Seahawks seemed absolutely determined to give away with a clever bit of savvy.
With the Detroit Lions just inches away from scoring a go-ahead touchdown in the late moments at CenturyLink Field, Chancellor punched the ball away from wide receiver Calvin Johnson. The ball came out just short of the goal line and bounced to the back of the end zone, and was then tapped across the end line by Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright.
The turnover occurred with 1:45 to play in the nationally televised game, and Seattle was able to run out the remaining seconds for a 13-10 victory.
“That play made by Kam was just extraordinary,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. It was, he added, “one of the great plays when a team (i.e., the Lions) is on the precipice of winning a football game.”
After the game there was controversy about the way Wright tapped the ball out of bounds. Because he deliberately knocked the ball out of the end zone, NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed that Wright should have been given an illegal batting penalty, which would have returned the ball to Detroit inside the Seattle 1-yard line.
“You can’t bat the ball in any direction in the end zone,” Blandino said. “K.J. Wright batted the football. That is a foul for an illegal bat.”
But the call stood because back judge Gregory Wilson “didn’t feel it was an overt act, so he didn’t throw the flag,” Blandino said.
Either way, Chancellor’s play saved the day for the Seahawks, who improved to 2-2 heading into Sunday’s game in Cincinnati against the undefeated Bengals.
“We always strive on playing to the end, playing to the whistle,” Chancellor said. Seeing that Johnson was holding the ball away from his body, “I attacked it and punched it and made a big play at the end. … We practice that all the time.”
“Kam is a special football player,” Wright said. “I’m just so glad that he came back (after a contract holdout that saw him miss the team’s first two regular-season games). That was a play that was big-time for us.”
“Kam is just a great player,” agreed defensive end Michael Bennett. “He’s arguably one of the top players on our team.”
Until Detroit’s final march, Seattle’s defense had dominated the Lions. Through the first 3½ quarters Detroit’s offense had just 176 yards, nine first downs and, most importantly, three points (the Lions scored seven points off a 27-yard fumble return by defensive tackle Caraun Reid).
“That’s just what we do,” Bennett said. “We’re the best defense in the NFL. We don’t give up many yards. We play great football. … If you look at the last two years, we’ve always been a defensive team. We’ve always made big defensive plays.”
“For the most part we had the game in our hands,” Wright added. “It got a little crazy there at the end. But I’m real proud the way the defense played. We did pretty good the whole game.”
Prior to his game-saving forced fumble, Chancellor’s individual highlight was a big hit on Johnson early in the fourth quarter. After making a reception on a crossing route, Johnson ran into Chancellor’s shoulder and ended up flat on his back (the 7-yard gain was negated by a Lions offensive penalty).
“That hit, it just electrifies our team, it electrifies our stadium and it brings energy,” Chancellor said. “I just love doing it. And once I get one, I want more.”
Instead, his most important impact was the fist that punched the ball away from Johnson at the goal line. The play, Chancellor said, was characteristic of Seattle’s never-give-up defensive mindset.
“It’s exactly what this team stands for,” he explained. “We fight to the end.”
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