The NFL hit the Seattle Seahawks with two Week 16 fines coming out of their wild Thursday night overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams, with linebacker Ernest Jones IV and safety Ty Okada both dinged for unnecessary roughness, per the leagueâs weekly âGameday Accountabilityâ log.
Jones was fined $11,593 for unnecessary roughness (late hit) in the first quarter (5:18). Okada was fined $5,722 for unnecessary roughness (hit on a defenseless player) in the fourth quarter (2:41).
Key details:
- Ernest Jones IV: $11,593 fine â Unnecessary Roughness / Late hit â Q1, 5:18
- Ty Okada: $5,722 fine â Unnecessary Roughness / Hit on defenseless player â Q4, 2:41
- Why this matters now: Seattle is heading into a pivotal Week 17 stretch, and discipline/fines become a storyline fast when the league is watching closely.
The Ty Okada hit: Hereâs the exact play in the fourth quarter
Okadaâs fine lines up cleanly with the play-by-play.
With 2:41 left in regulation, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford hit tight end Terrance Ferguson down the left side for 27 yards, and Okada was flagged for unnecessary roughness, tacking on 15 more yards.
That penalty mattered in real time, too: it helped move Los Angeles into scoring range on a drive that ended with a missed 48-yard field goal at 2:11, keeping the door open for Seattleâs frantic finish.
Okadaâs hit drew immediate attention during the broadcast because it was ruled a blow on a defenseless receiver, and itâs the kind of safety-related contact the NFL has been aggressive about enforcing via fines all season.
The Ernest Jones fine: Why itâs harder to spot in the play-by-play
Jonesâ fine is tagged to 5:18 of the first quarter, and the official game book shows that timestamp as a Blake Corum run to the Seattle 30.
Notably, the play-by-play entry at that moment doesnât list a penalty on Jones, which suggests the leagueâs fine may have been tied to action after the whistle or away from the ball, even if it didnât show up as an enforced foul in the live log. (That happens: the NFLâs discipline process can flag elements of a play on review that donât necessarily appear as a standard âPenalty onâ¦â line.) It could also mean refs just missed the call in real-time.Â
Either way, the headline point for Seahawks fans is simple: the league logged it as a late-hit fine on a high-profile primetime game.
What it means for the Seahawks heading into Week 17
Fines donât change the standings, but they do add pressure, especially when they involve unnecessary roughness classifications and player-safety categories.
A couple of things to watch next:
- Appeal window: Players are notified and can appeal discipline rulings through the jointly appointed process outlined by NFL Football Operations.
- Role context: Okada has been filling in amid injury shuffles in the secondary, so any added scrutiny on his tackling/angles matters for a defense trying to stay clean in critical moments.
- The ongoing story: If Seattle keeps getting flagged (or fined) in big games, it becomes a week-to-week storyline fast, especially with playoff seeding and matchups looming.
Reminder: This came out of an instant-classic finish vs. the Rams
Seattleâs game had plenty of chaos beyond the fines: the Seahawks rallied from a 16-point deficit late and ultimately won 38-37 in overtime, with Sam Darnold leading the comeback.
Next up for Seattle: a massive Week 17 spot where every âsmall thingâ â including discipline and hidden-yardage penalties â gets magnified.Â
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