Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says tripping penalty was ‘ridiculous’

On Dallas’s 80-yard second-quarter touchdown drive, Richard Sherman was called for a tripping penalty that helped move Dallas into the red zone. And while it is illegal for a defender to use his leg to trip an opponent, Sherman very clearly did not to that, but rather catch Dez Bryant’s foot with his hand after Bryant made a 23-yard catch.

Asked if he got an explanation on that call, Carroll said, “Yeah, that it was wrong. They all said it was wrong. It was a ridiculous call. I don’t know what anybody was thinking. I don’t know how every guy on the field couldn’t see that, it was wide open. Somebody should have overruled that. They all admitted it was a terrible mistake.”

Of course as Seahawks fans know all too well, this was not the first time a Bill Leavy-led officiating crew made bad calls against Seattle. Years after Leavy was the referee in Seattle’s Super Bowl XL loss to Pittsburgh, Leavy admitted to “kicking” several calls in that game.