Referee Shawn Smith says the crew saw no head or neck contact on Devin Bush’s hit on Sam Darnold, explains the Horton hit and the Smith-Njigba flag

Referee Shawn Smith explained three plays that went against the Seattle Seahawks in their 34-17 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night, and his answer on the biggest one is that the crew saw no contact to Sam Darnold’s head or neck. Smith spoke to a pool reporter after the game, and Brady Henderson posted the transcript early Tuesday.

Here’s the pool report with referee Shawn Smith, who was asked about three plays: the hit on Tory Horton on the Seahawks’ first possession, the hit on Sam Darnold while he was sliding later in the first quarter, and the OPI on Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the third quarter.

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) November 3, 2026

The Darnold slide

The play came on third-and-8 from the Seattle 31 with 4:20 left in the first quarter. Darnold scrambled, started to slide, and Bears linebacker Devin Bush hit him as he went down. No flag came, and Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was seen angrily talking with officials on the sideline.

Devin Bush drills Sam Darnold as he is clearly giving himself up on a slide. Somehow, this hit didn’t draw a penalty.

— The Goal Line Grind (@theGLgrind) November 3, 2026

Smith’s explanation was that Darnold “was scrambling and became a runner. We didn’t see any contact to his head and neck area when he hit the ground. Once he gave himself up, we didn’t see that on the field.” Asked whether a defender can hit a sliding runner, he said: “The defender committed and he made contact. So, the runner becomes defenseless once he starts to slide and he can’t be hit in the head or neck area.”

A reporter then asked whether Darnold had slid late. “No, I did not say that,” Smith answered, and he added that a quarterback who slides “is protected from getting hit in the head or neck area, or getting hit late.” In other words, the crew did not say the slide was late. It said it did not see the head or neck contact that the rule prohibits.

I’m surprised replay assist didn’t jump in on the Devin Bush hit on Sam Darnold. Seemed pretty clear.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 2, 2026

The Horton hit and the offensive pass interference call

Smith was also asked about a hit on receiver Tory Horton on Seattle’s first possession, a third-and-5 from the Seattle 37 with 14:13 left in the first quarter. He said officials did not see forcible contact to Horton’s head or neck. Since there was no flag on the field, the play could not be reviewed in the moment.

The third play was the one that hurt most on the scoreboard. Late in the third quarter, with Seattle trailing 20-9, Darnold hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a pass that appeared to put the ball near the Chicago 1-yard line. Officials flagged Smith-Njigba for offensive pass interference, which wiped out the catch. Smith said the call came from the receiver extending his arm into the defender’s chest with a locked elbow. Seattle then attempted a field goal early in the fourth quarter, and Austin Booker blocked it.

What comes next

Darnold stayed in the game and finished 17 of 34 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and the Bears went on to win in Jeffery Simmons’ debut. Our game recap has the full story of the night. Unflagged hits can still draw fines after the league reviews the film, and the league’s weekly discipline usually arrives toward the end of the week. As of Tuesday evening in Cairo, no fine or league review of Bush’s hit had been reported.

The pool report shows how the crew applied the rule. A defender who had already committed to a tackle on a sliding quarterback is not penalized unless officials see contact to the head or neck, and on the Horton hit Smith said the lack of a flag meant there was nothing to review. The pool report did not address Breer’s point about replay assist.