Seahawks linebacker Darrell Taylor committed one of the weirdest penalties you’ll ever see in an NFL game on Sunday — except that it wasn’t a penalty, because the officials didn’t see it.
It happened on the Raiders’ first offensive play, an interception thrown by Derek Carr to Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs. The video of the play clearly shows Taylor, No. 52, on the sideline at the time Diggs intercepts the pass. Then Taylor runs onto the field and blocks Raiders wide receiver Mack Hollins during Diggs’ interception return, before continuing to celebrate after Diggs runs out of bounds.
Obviously, that’s a penalty, but the officials didn’t notice and didn’t throw a flag. The replay official also should have noticed but didn’t — all turnover plays are supposed to be automatically reviewed, and 12 players on the field is a reviewable penalty, whether it’s called on the field or not. The Raiders could not have challenged the play because it was a turnover; the replay could only come from upstairs.
What was Taylor thinking? He may have thought Diggs was down by contact when he made the diving interception and was running onto the field to celebrate, thinking the play was over. But once he was on the field and the play was still going on, Taylor illegally participated by blocking Hollins.
It was a bad mistake by Taylor and a bad mistake by the officials.