Rookie Seattle quarterback and former NC State star Russell Wilson threw a pass at the end of regulation against the Green Bay Packers that was intercepted but incorrectly called a touchdown by replacement NFL officials, giving the Seahawks a 14-12 victory.

Seattle’s Golden Tate pushed down defender Sam Shields, who had wrongly been called for pass interference a few minutes earlier, and got a hand on the ball just after the Packers’ M.D. Jennings grabbed it, secured it to his chest and touched his feet down. One ref motioned that it was a touchback while the other ruled touchdown. The excitement in the stadium seemed to almost direct the final ruling to be that of a touchdown.

The ensuing frustration and anger at the call, by everyone but Seahawks’ fans, will overshadow the fact that Russell Wilson did a good job leading Seattle, especially on the final drive. He only completed 10 of 21 passes for just 130 yards but he did seem like a veteran late in the game.

Unfortunately, his button-down demeanor after the game when he was in a celebratory denial mode will not endear him to NFL fans. While viewing the pass interference call (which obviously should not have been called), Wilson said he thought the officials got it right. Really? Then, while viewing the controversial game-ending play, he said “it was a tough call but the tie goes to the offense.”

Russell, buddy, that was not a tie. The rule clearly states that if a defensive player gains control of the ball first and then the offensive player subsequently gains joint control, it’s an interception.

Wilson would have been better served to have said something like, “We played well enough to win and we are fortunate that it turned out that way. There are a lot of calls that can determine a game and it just so happens that this call that came at the end went our way.”

Certainly both teams had to play with the same officials and there were bad calls both ways but the final play wasn’t really even close. Replays showed one of Tate’s hands may have been on the ball around the back of Jennings but the other hand wasn’t even on the ball until Jennings had gone down to the ground.

So, why didn’t replay overrule it you might ask? Good question. It should have but supposedly the replay officials, who are not on strike, are not allowed to determine who has the ball. Why not? Who knows but the on-field officials have the final say as to which player has control. The main thing should be to get the call right and if it takes the replay officials to accurately determine who has the ball, then so be it.

Since this call obviously cost the Packers a win and could affect the playoffs, and since this game was nationally televised, it will get a lot of attention and could possibly be the tipping point in negotiations between officials and the NFL owners. (Ironically enough, the Packers don’t have a single owner to negotiate.) Without delving into the minutia of the NFL’s offer to officials, it seems pretty fair to me. The hang up apparently mostly revolves around pensions.

This does give fans a new appreciation of the regular NFL officials, who also mess up on occasion. But, while the NFL might say this is the only game result that was ultimately determined by officials, this is not the only game where the wrong team ended up winning. Bad calls, confusion and losing control of the games certainly has affected the outcome of games and it affects the integrity of the game.

Coaches are irate, players are ticked and fans are frustrated. Get it done NFL and officials. Then, in the future, when Russell Wilson calls a game “a spectacular win” we won’t all cringe.