ST. LOUIS — Rams receiver Torry Holt said an official used the video scoreboard to call a penalty Sunday to take away St. Louis' biggest play of the second half against the Seattle Seahawks.

After the 23-20 last-play loss to the 3-11 Seahawks, Holt said the official called pass interference after watching the play deep in Seattle territory in the third quarter.

"He said he looked up in the Jumbotron and saw that I pushed off," said Holt, who is in his 10th year with the 2-12 Rams. "I told him I never extended my arm. It is one thing if you extended, because that is pass interference. But everything was in motion catching the football. I don't even know if I had my hands on the guy.

"That was his explanation and I told him it was a bad call."

Seattle kicked a field goal to cut the Rams' lead to 17-13 with 4:40 left in the third quarter. St. Louis took possession on its 20 and moved the ball to the Seattle 46. On second down, quarterback Marc Bulger threw a strike down the right sideline that Holt caught at the Seahawks' 26 against cornerback Marcus Trufant.

The play was brought back as pass interference was called. That set the Rams back to their own 44-yard line. St. Louis moved the ball to the Seattle 29 and settled for a field goal and a 20-13 lead with 11:09 remaining to play. That one-score advantage kept the Seahawks, who entered with a six-game losing streak, in the game.

Clearly, the penalty had a big effect on the drive.

"I was surprised," Holt said. "I could understand if I did because I would take that but I could not understand it. It was a big play for our team. It was something that we needed. We needed some energy, something to get us going and that was a big play for us. To take that from us was not fair. They get paid to do what they do and we get paid to do what we do."

Rams coach Jim Haslett said he was "not going to touch" the official's decision.

"That is a young guy over there, a rookie referee," Haslett said. "I am not sure what he saw but obviously he thought it was pass interference, and we have to live with it. If that is what he called then that is what he called."

Bulger offered his opinion of the play, saying "You just don't see a lot of offensive pass interference called in this league."

"Torry made such a nice catch there. I think he did (push off)," Bulger said. "It wasn't just one play that cost us this game."

Holt finished with four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown as the Rams extended their losing streak to eight games.

The seven-time Pro Bowler has another year left on the seven-year, $42 million contract that he signed with the Rams in 2003.