Seattle Seahawks‘ Riq Woolen nearly became the villain in the NFC title game for his taunting penalty against the Los Angeles Rams. Nonetheless, Seattle overcame that hurdle in the game to advance to the Super Bowl.
Seattle was in control late in the third quarter, holding a 31-20 advantage after Sam Darnold found Cooper Kupp for a 13-yard touchdown. Momentum shifted quickly when Woolen received a flag for taunting after breaking up a third-and-12 pass intended for Puka Nacua. The penalty gave kept the drive alive for LA.
Matthew Stafford wasted no time testing Woolen again. On the very next snap, Stafford looked Nacua’s way, and the receiver delivered, shaking free near the goal line and hauling in a 34-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone to swing momentum back toward the Rams.
San Francisco 49ers‘ Fred Warner shared his thoughts on the flag as a defensive player and someone who has played in a couple of NFC title games.
“In a big game like that, an instant game, you have to do something just egregious for a ref to throw a flag, because people don’t want the refs to have the control of who wins and loses that game, right?,” Warner said of Woolen’s penalty in a Jan. 27 video from “The Ryen Russillo Show.”
And the refs know that. So they’re going to let the players play a little bit. But he just overdid it. And that’s a fireable offense. If they would have lost that game after what he did, there’s nothing left to do at that point, right? But it’s going to get swept under the rug. If they go on to win a Super Bowl, then it will all be forgotten, and nobody will ever know that that happened.”
Seahawks See Taunting Penalty as Learning Lesson
Meanwhile, the Seahawks did beat the Rams despite the costly penalty, but Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald isn’t sweeping the situation under the rug. He spoke about the situation as a learning experience for his team as Macdonald likely understands that next time his team won’t be so lucky.
“I think it was a good exercise in what we want our team to think,” Macdonald said on Jan. 26 on the Seattle Sports radio show. “Like, it’s okay to be emotional for a second, but then you have to come down to center and go to the next play. But I certainly wasn’t happy, wasn’t excited about it.
“I know we wanna live in the death zone, but that was one we could’ve avoided. Yeah, and then honestly, I made a bad playcall the next time. I mean, that’s a play Riq feels like he should’ve been able to make, but I can help him out as well. So I was pretty pissed at the playcall too.”
Riq Woolen Gets Strong Words From Shannon Sharpe
Despite the Seahawks coming away with the win, former NFL player Shannon Sharpe didn’t hold back on Woolen for nearly costing his team a Super Bowl appearance during the Jan. 25 edition of “Nightcap.”
“He’s in his own head, so that’s the best chance to take advantage of him because he knows what he’s done,” Sharpe said about Woolen’s penalty and conceded touchdown. “He’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, we were off the field, we were about to get the ball back, we’re already up ten. Boy, we’re about to get the ball back. Yes sir, yes sir, feeling good, feeling good. What have I done? They let you get away with it.’
“How long do you want to stand there and celebrate in front of their bench? Because they let you get away with it initially. The official didn’t throw the flag, but you just stood there and just started walking up and down and just looking at them.”
Fred Warner Gets Honest on Seahawks’ Riq Woolen Taunting Penalty