There's an alternate ending to Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings in which Kam Chancellor's pass interference call against Kyle Rudolph would have become the most talked-about play in Seattle during a long offseason.

Chancellor was matched up with Rudolph on the final drive and got flagged for a 19-yard pass interference penalty. He then was beaten for a 24-yard catch and run as the Vikings moved into field-goal range.

After the game, Chancellor told reporters he vehemently disagreed with the call. And apparently, Pete Carroll had questions about it too.

"I called the league office to find out what their interpretation of that was," Carroll said. "It’s so close because the defender has his right to his area, and the receiver is supposed to have to avoid to get by. As Rudolph was avoiding, Kam’s right hand came up, so his hand was outside here. They hit head to head. He made a move and came right into him, and Kam’s hand came up. That’s what they saw, so that’s what they called.

"Had his hand been inside, then that didn’t need to be a call because Kam was in his own space, and the receiver needs to be trying to avoid. They would have just overlooked that. They wouldn’t have called it usually. They wouldn’t have called it offensive interference, they wouldn’t call it defensive. They would just call it incidental. Because his hand was out there, it gave the guy a reason to make the call."

In Week 17 against the Arizona Cardinals, safety Earl Thomas made contact with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald on a similar play, but he was not flagged. The Seahawks ended up with an interception on Carson Palmer's pass, and Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was livid that there was no penalty.

"It’s really the same situation," Carroll said.

In the Seahawks' first meeting with the Carolina Panthers, they were called for seven penalties for 48 yards, but only one was for defensive holding/pass interference.