Seahawks

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Tight end Zach Miller caught a pass in the final minute of the third quarter, and was tackled out of bounds with 9 seconds left in the period.

Next thing people knew, the third quarter was over and FOX cut to commercial.

So what happened to those 9 seconds? It’s a question I’ve been asked on both via Twitter< and e-mail. It's a pertinent question considering how valuable that time would have been on Seattle's final, desperation possession.

Well, those 9 seconds ran off the clock. As they should have.

The clock does stop when a player runs out of bounds, but it restarts upon the referee’s signal, which comes after the ball is spotted for the ensuing play. The exceptions to this are in the final 2 minutes of the first half and final 5 minutes of the game when the clock remains stopped when a player runs out of bounds until the ensuing snap.

Source: NFL rules digest: Timing.