Caldwell: Officials obviously didn't know bat ball rule

Jim Caldwell tried to play things straight, but even the mild-mannered Detroit Lions coach couldn't help but get one final dig in at the officiating crew who let a controversial batted ball stand in Monday's 13-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Told at his weekly news conference today that several players and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll were among those who said they didn't know the batted ball rule, Caldwell deadpanned, "There's obviously officials that don't know the rules as well."

The NFL said late Monday night that Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright should have been penalized for intentionally batting a loose ball out of the back of the end zone after Calvin Johnson fumbled inside the 1-yard line with less than two minutes to play.

Officials on the field ruled that Wright's bat was not overt and awarded Seattle the ball on a touchback at the 20-yard.

The Seahawks ran out the final 1:45 to hand the Lions, the only winless team left in the NFL, their sixth straight loss dating back to last December.

Caldwell said today that he spoke with NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino about the call, but he otherwise tried to dodge the subject and shift his attention to the Lions' game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

Less than a week after saying he doesn't censor what players can say to the media, Caldwell even promised to tell his team to avoid talking about the subject when they return after today's off day for practice on Wednesday.

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"You can take that situation and drag it out through the week where your players are more focused in on that particular play than on the opposition that we have to face in just a few days in a very, very good Arizona team," Caldwell said. "You can act woe-is-me and bad-call-that-went-against-us and look at all those kinds of things and that'll distract you and you'll get your ears kicked in come Sunday afternoon. We don't plan to let that happen.

"So we plan to make certain that our guys focus in on – and just so you guys will know, when you talk to them tomorrow, I'm going to tell them not to talk about it, just so you understand that. Because of the fact that we can't be hanging on something that happened a night ago that we can do nothing about."

The Lions failed to score an offensive touchdown Monday against the Seahawks, and didn't reach the red zone until their final disputed possession of the game.

The Lions drove from their own 9-yard line to inside the Seattle 20 at the two-minute warning, then after a 3-yard run by Zach Zenner lost the game in heartbreaking fashion on Johnson's fumble.

Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor punched the ball loose from Johnson's left hand as Johnson lunged for the goal line past two other Seattle defenders. Wright then tapped the bounding ball out of the back of the end zone, in clear view of back judge Gregory Wilson.

Caldwell said another official, field judge Buddy Horton, who was standing at the goal line, pulled a flag out of his pocket during the play. Horton's actions are not visible on the television replay of the game.

"It's one of those situations where, as we looked at it from the sideline, we saw Calvin with the ball in his hand," Caldwell said. "The ball comes out and then I actually saw the young man bat the ball out. So you could see Buddy Horton on the side waving his flag in his hand. He's got it clearly in his hand. I kind of took my eyes off him at that particular point in time, but they all started to confer so I knew it was a discussion going on there just in terms of the rule and how it works. And once they figured they had it ironed out, obviously, it's out of our control. It had to be reviewed and looked at by them from upstairs, and once it was completed, then we had to look at ways to try to make certain we got the ball back. So it went from there."

The batted ball was not subject to replay because it was a judgment call, only Johnson's fumble was. And Caldwell did not vehemently argue the lack of a flag during the game or at his news conference today.

"This is probably going to be the only time I talk about it, so if I don't answer any questions in regard to it you'll understand and know why, or at least I'll give you reasons why," Caldwell said. "Because I don't want it to linger. I don't want our guys talking about it because it's over and done with, just in terms of the play."

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Carroll seemed to acknowledge after the game that his team caught a break from officials, saying, "It's the way it goes sometimes. Plays happen and calls get made, and we live with it and do the best we can."

He said on his weekly radio show on 710 ESPN in Seattle today, via ESPN.com, that Wright made "a smart play" to bat the ball out of the end zone and that "I would have done the exact same thing."

"I didn't know that rule, either," Carroll said in his radio interview.

Several Lions players said Monday night that they weren't aware of the rule themselves, and Caldwell said batted balls are situations he rarely talks about in practice.

As for Monday's call, Caldwell said it can take his team one of two ways the rest of the season.

"You can keep dwelling on it and feel sorry for yourself or you can get by it and move on and start focusing on your next opponent," he said. "And that's what we plan to do."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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