The Commanders have every right to be upset at the refs after controversial last drive vs. Giants.
The Washington Commanders and New York Giants played a pivotal game with major playoff implications on Sunday Night Football in Week 15. The NFC East rivals are each looking up at the Eagles and Cowboys in the division, but if the season ended today, both the Giants and Commanders would qualify for the playoffs. The margins for one of those teams was going to get much slimmer after a loss, and a controversial ending has Washington feeling like the referees took a win right out of their hands.
The Giants beat the Commanders, 20-12, in an ugly game with an exciting but anticlimactic ending for all the wrong reasons. The game went down the final plays in the final drive, with Washington putting the ball in the end zone before an odd illegal formation call set up a game-deciding fourth down from the 6-yard-line. Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke threw the ball into the end zone for Curtis Samuel, but the Giants broke up the pass to secure the win.
On second look, it sure seems like the Giants defensive backs grabbed Samuel before the ball arrived. Why didn’t the refs call defensive pass interference? Watch the play here:
This screenshot, which went viral on social media after the game, seems to show that the Giants got away with interference on the final play of the game.
Of course, that wasn’t the only controversial call to go against the Commanders on their final drive.
Washington got the ball to the 1-yard-line on third down, and rookie running back Brian Robinson punched it in for a touchdown. Only one problem: the refs took it off the board because they said wide out Terry McLaurin was called for illegal formation. The ball was moved back five yards, and the pass interference no-call happened on the next play.
McLaurin appears to ask the official if he was lined up correctly before the snap, and the official appears to tell him he was all good. Watch the video here:
Terry McLaurin looks at the ref asking if he’s good – ref points back at McLaurin as of to indicate he’s good. McLaurin then gives a thumbs up to ref to acknowledge it. This “penalty” took a Brian Robinson TD off the board. Via @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/B86N6nsJsS
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) December 19, 2022
McLaurin said after the game that the official told him to “move up a little bit” before the illegal formation call. Here’s the quote, via ProFootballTalk:
“I felt like I was on the ball the entire time,” McLaurin said. “If you look through the game, I lined up there pretty much every play. I checked to see if I was good the first time and he was like, ‘Move up a little bit.’ So when I moved up, I checked to see if I was good, and he said I was good. I’m not trying to get fined.”
Here’s the video of McLaurin talking about it after the game:
Washington head coach Ron Rivera was not happy with the officials after the game, but didn’t want to get fined for criticizing them. Here’s a clip of Rivera being asked about the late game calls going against his team in his post-game press conference:
“Don’t ask me about the refereeing.”
Ron Rivera frustrated when asked about the official’s calls made in the final minutes of the Commanders-Giants game. pic.twitter.com/huK6BqH7ev
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) December 19, 2022
Here’s what the officials said on the no-call for pass interference. The refs defended their decision to swallow their whistles on Washington’s final play after the game.
The Giants improved to 8-5-1 with the win, and now have an 87 percent chance to make the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight. Meanwhile, the Commanders fall to 7-6-1 and now have a 35 percent chance to make the playoffs after the loss. What a difference one game makes.
The Commanders could have played much better throughout the night, but it’s still tough to lose a game on multiple controversial calls like that. Check out our NFL playoff picture story for a full look at how the postseason is shaping up.
