What went down during the crazy final seconds of the first half between the Bills and Seahawks

The final seconds of the first half turned out to be key to the outcome of the “Monday Night Football” game between the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills.

They were also, at least in the opinion of Bills Coach Rex Ryan, “ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”

With three seconds remaining in the second quarter and his team trailing, 28-17, Buffalo kicker Dan Carpenter lined up for a 53-yard field goal attempt. Seattle’s Richard Sherman crossed the line of scrimmage early and ran into Carpenter’s leg as he was kicking.

Here’s what all that looked like:

"I didn't feel like the actions and the contact, because we were shutting the play down, warranted a foul," referee Walt Anderson said after the game. Anderson also said Sherman might not have known the play had been whistled dead because of the noise in the stadium.

So the only penalty called was on Sherman for being offside. The NFL’s senior vice president of officiating, Dean Blandino, tweeted during the game that Sherman should have been called for unnecessary roughness.

“The referee in looking at it was coming in to kill the play and didn't think the contact was enough for unnecessary roughness,” Blandino told NFL Network. “Obviously when you look at the tape that is not the case.”

Sherman disagreed. "I didn't go for the kicker,” he told ESPN after the game. “I went straight for the ball."

He added: "[Carpenter] should have not kicked it, you know? Maybe he wanted to; I went for the ball. So when the ball gets tipped on a play, the rule is, there is no flag."

Carpenter needed to be checked by trainers after the contact from Sherman and had to be removed for a play. The Bills spiked the ball with one second remaining and prepared for a 48-yard attempt by Carpenter, but the officials took a long time getting the kicking ball back on the field and didn’t reset the play clock afterward.

As a result, the Bills ended up getting called for delay of game, and Carpenter missed what became a 54-yard attempt to end the half.

“From an officiating standpoint, I think they can do a little better than that,” Ryan said after the game.

Before heading into the locker room for halftime, Sherman appeared to have heated exchanges with Ryan and his brother, Bills assistant head coach/defense Rob Ryan.

"He's mean mugging like he's doing and whatever," Rex Ryan said of Sherman. "The guy's a great player. I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought. I thought he roughed our kicker. It was a ridiculous play, no question. Then he's over on the sideline, taunting us. So I had some words. I think I said, 'You're too good of a player to act like an ass.' I think that's what I said."

Sherman said he couldn't hear what the Bills coach said to him at the end of the half and that the other Ryan was "talking to himself."

Buffalo ended up losing, 31-25, after quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal from the 15 with 20 seconds remaining. Had they made the field goal at the end of the first half, the Bills conceivably could have attempted to tie the game with a 32-yard attempt at the end of regulation.

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii

ALSO

NFL teams are breaking all the rules this year

Rams' Jeff Fisher is staying the course, sticking with Case Keenum at QB

Rams tape review: Getting to Cam Newton, and Case Keenum goes left-handed