GAME DAY MEMORIES
Seahawks vs Jets - The Phantom Touchdown
On December 6, 1998 the
Seahawks visited the New York Jets in an important AFC game (yes the Seahawks
were members of the AFC in ancient times).
The game was an exciting back
and forth affair and the Seahawks led 31-19 going into the fourth quarter. The Jets scored a touchdown early in the
fourth to close the gap to 31-26. The
Jets were driving for the winning score and faced fourth and goal from the five
with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Jet quarterback Vinny
Testaverde carried the ball to near the goal line on fourth down. Officials gave the Jets the score though
replays clearly showed the ball never broke the plane of the end zone. The Jets won 32-31. The loss dropped the Seahawks to 6-7 and they
ultimately finished 8-8 and one game out of the playoffs. Seahawk coach Dennis Erickson lost his job at
season's end. The Jets would go on to
lose the AFC Championship game to the Denver Broncos.
Many credit this clearly
botched call with driving the NFL to adopt instant replay. As we know from another Seahawk game, instant
replay still doesn't guarantee that the officials get it right.
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