The NFL’s opening night got a strange little jolt from the officiating crew, and for a moment the conversation had less to do with football than with where the referee was looking.
On New England’s first real push of the game, Drake Maye took off toward the sideline on third down, stepped out, and then got shoved by Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall. The flag came out, extending the drive, and referee Adrian Hill announced the penalty in a way that made the broadcast crew lose it.
Though Hill wasn’t shown on television making the call, the giveaway was the fact that he said it twice, with “And now for for the television viewing audience,” dropped in between. Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico cracked up on the NBC telecast.
The game itself had opened slowly, with the first three possessions of the season ending in punts as neither side could get anything going. Then Seattle’s Sam Darnold left after the Seahawks’ first drive with an apparent hip injury.
Darnold limped off, was checked in the blue tent, and then headed to the locker room. Drew Lock took over at quarterback.
New England got a little help from the penalty, but it didn’t lead to much. A few minutes later, officials ruled Maye was outside the tackle box when he threw the ball away, so there was no intentional grounding flag. Even with that break, the Patriots still ended up punting.
For one brief stretch, the officials provided the funniest moment of the night. After that, it was back to football.
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