The Week 4 refereeing assignments have been confirmed, and while we don’t normally pay too close attention given no officiating crew is immune to an onslaught of criticism, the choice for the Seattle Seahawks’ Monday night game against the Detroit Lions is certainly amusing.
For the second year in a row, Alex Kemp and his crew get Seahawks vs. Lions duties in Detroit. If you recall last season, Kemp’s crew made the controversial decision to flag Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith for intentional grounding. Smith was under no pressure, threw the ball to an area with no Seahawk in sight, but it was obvious that it was a miscommunication between QB and receiver.
Seahawks Geno Smith got an intentional grounding in this play on what appears to be a miscommunication, but threw in the direction of Tyler Lockett.
To put in context, Aaron Rodgers would’ve been given a pass inference call in this same situation.
The flag was thrown anyway, sending Pete Carroll into hysterics, Geno Smith into a state of disbelief, and Alex Kemp into viral stardom for a day with the line, “I’m talking to America here.”
The Seahawks scored a touchdown on this drive anyway, so I suppose there’s no harm done.
Lions fans may have their own reservations about Kemp, considering Jake Curhan could’ve been flagged for holding Aidan Hutchinson on Smith’s overtime touchdown to Tyler Lockett.
Seattle’s history with Kemp as lead official has been mixed. He did two of the three losses to the San Francisco 49ers in 2022, but also the overtime classic in Santa Clara back in 2019, as well as the 30-23 home win over the 49ers in 2021. Kemp’s only other Seahawks game in 2023 was the 29-26 win over the Washington Commanders, which saw Seattle flagged eight times for 50 yards.
Hopefully his crew has got a handle on how to call intentional grounding this time around, should the situation arise again.
