Blandino: Refs incorrectly handled crucial end-zone call at end of Lions-Seahawks

— -- Kam Chancellor punched the ball free from Lions receiver Calvin Johnson at the 1-yard line when it appeared the Detroit Lions were going to take the lead, and the Seattle Seahawks held on for a 13-10 win on Monday night.

But NFL head of officials Dean Blandino said the Lions actually should have gotten the fumbled ball back at the half-yard line on the play since the ball was intentionally batted out of the end zone by Seahawks linebacker KJ Wright.

Blandino, speaking to Monday Night Football, said the batted ball part of the play is not reviewable even though it was a turnover.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell shrugged off the controversy in his postgame news conference, deferring to league officials.

"I'm not going to even go there. Talk to the Blandino and the rest of the guys, they'll explain," Caldwell said.

With Detroit on the verge of capping a 91-yard drive with the go-ahead touchdown with less than 2 minutes remaining, Chancellor came from the side and punched the ball from Johnson's arm as he was being tackled by Earl Thomas. The ball bounded into the end zone and Wright batted it over the back line for a touchback and Seattle's ball at the 20.

The ball bounded into the end zone where it was guided over the back line by K.J. Wright for a touchback and Seattle's ball at the 20.

Wright could have been called for illegal touching for hitting the ball out of the end zone, which would have given the ball back to Detroit. But no flags were thrown and on the ensuing possession, Russell Wilson found Jermaine Kearse for 50 yards on third down. With Detroit out of timeouts, the Seahawks (2-2) ran off the final seconds of their second straight win.

"We can't change it now,'' Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "It is what it is. We won and we're going to move on.''

And once again, the Seahawks may have received another Monday night break from the officials in the same end zone where the infamous "Fail Mary'' took place.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll admitted the Seahawks got a break, saying it was a unique situation, but "we were fortunate."