Bleacher Report:
NFL referee Bill Leavy has admitted that offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties from Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews and San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Joe Staley were incorrectly assessed Sunday, a mistake San Francisco capitalized on for a touchdown.
As noted by USA Today’s Tom Pelissero, Matthews was assessed an initial 15-yard penalty after he shoved 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to the ground well after Kaepernick had scrambled out of bounds, two yards short of a 3rd-and-6 conversion.
Staley, incensed by the manner Matthews went after his quarterback, immediately ran over to the Packers linebacker and engaged in a shoving match. Players from both teams soon joined in, with referees and fellow players having to separate the feuding sides.
After the skirmish was broken up, Leavy assessed two penalties—one to Matthews for the hit and another to Staley for his retaliation. He announced on the field that the two penalties would offset and then incorrectly awarded the 49ers a chance to repeat their 3rd-and-6 try. Because both fouls happened after the play concluded, San Francisco should have faced a 4th-and-2 situation.
The rest here.