To me this goes back to the same ol same ol, thing I always say. I read a really cool article years ago somewhere (wish I could find the link). Basically, someone did a psychological study on referees, using anonymous questionaires, and they found out that if the refs think in their heads, that you are the better team of the two, they will give you the calls, subconsciously. If they think you are a bad team, or trying to get over on them, then out come the hankies. That's why teams like the Packers, Seahawks and Patriots get so many favorable calls, and for the rest of the league, it's talk to the hand!

So I'm not really surprised that they muddled this call, given that the Seattle defense has all the hype and fame, and Detroit has so little respect. Not that the refs were doing it consciously, on purpose, but in the big picture it is far more important for them to save a "good" team like Seattle's season, with a miracle play, than it is to call it correctly and give Detroit the potential win.