The Seattle Seahawks were working in a sudden death scenario in overtime. With the ball on the 31-yard line and just under seven minutes remaining, quarterback Geno Smith lofted a slot fade down the left sideline to Tyler Lockett.

The ball hit the turf. Then so did a pair of penalty flags, as New England Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones was called for a questionable defensive pass interference penalty.

"In overtime, I don't feel like that's a penalty," Jones said at his locker after the game. "At that point, it's out of my hands. [The ref's] got the flag to throw it. He threw it."

Lockett -- and Jones' teammates -- even agreed, as Jones shared post-game that the Seattle receiver told him the play was not a penalty.

"'That's not a penalty'. Straight up that's what [Lockett] told me," Jones said.

"I feel like it definitely wasn't called in the right direction," safety Kyle Dugger later said.

The Patriots cornerback is now looking for an explanation himself of what he did wrong.

"Without getting fined, I would like someone from the officiating office and NFL to kind of show where the penalty was," Jones said.

The 20-yard penalty advanced Seattle's offense just over midfield. New England's defense then could not swing the momentum back in their favor, as six plays later Jason Myers knocked through the game-winning field goal to clinch the 23-20 victory for the Seahawks.

"Can't leave it up to the officials," safety Jabrill Peppers said. "We got to make plays."

"It sucks. It kind of felt like that was the play of the game," Jones said of his penalty. "That's a tough way to end the game."