49ers not challenging the DeVonta Smith catch might come back to haunt them

The best catch of the NFL postseason wasn’t actually a catch.

The NFC Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers was not even five minutes old when we got our first big controversy of the day.

What happened? The Eagles opened the game in possession of the football and quickly drove down the field. However, they found themselves in a fourth-and-3 situation at the San Francisco 35-yard line, prompting head coach Nick Sirianni to make a decision: go for a long field goal, or try to keep the drive alive by going for it.

Sirianni went for the later option, and his team delivered:

JALEN TO DEVONTA OH MY

: #SFvsPHI on FOX
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FKUP5TdmfQ pic.twitter.com/rUoyhJmsbM

— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2023

Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts broke out of the pocket to his left to buy some time, which allowed wide receiver DeVonta Smith to get open behind the 49ers defense. Smith went up to snag the ball with one hand for a 29-yard grab to keep the drive alive.

Two plays later, Miles Sanders sauntered into the end zone and scored the game’s first touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

However, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had the power to prevent all of that. All he needed to do was throw the red flag to challenge the Smith reception on fourth down.

The ball, after all, appeared to touch the ground as shown on the FOX broadcast:

Never mind. Hurlz right. AS USUAL. pic.twitter.com/tSIG3zsTqT

— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) January 29, 2023

While nobody truly knows what a catch even is in the Year of our Lord 2023, it appears Shanahan would have had a solid case: The ball can be seen touching the ground, which per rule would have made this an incompletion rather than one of the best catches of the year.

Of course, as ESPN’s Kevin Seifert pointed out on Twitter, the NFL replay official also could have reversed the play but opted not to. So, nobody truly knows what the result of a challenge might have been.

That said, by keeping the challenge flag in the pocket and watching the Eagles go up-tempo after the play, Shanahan prevented an extended look. The decision might very well come back to haunt him.