Super Bowl referees miss roughing the kicker penalty against Seahawks

For the second straight postseason, the Seattle Seahawks seemed to benefit from a missed call on special teams. Seahawks defender Jeron Johnson went in for the block on the New England Patriots punter, and appeared to hit him on the plant let. The refs called running into the kicker, but it would seem like this should have been roughing the kicker.

That moment you realize that roughing the kicker doesn't apply because you're playing the Seahawks. #PlantLeg pic.twitter.com/1ILZsSUU8M

— Ryan Sakamoto (@SakamotoRyan) February 1, 2015

NFL rule book: "Roughing the kicker if a defensive player contacts the plant leg of the kicker while his kicking leg is still in the air."

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) February 1, 2015

Something similar happened in last year's NFC Championship Game when Andy Lee appeared to draw a roughing penalty. The refs called running into the kicker when it clearly should have been roughing. Gotta love seeing the referees become an early story once again!