Here’s a shocker: The NFL says Sunday night’s officiating crew messed up down the stretch of the Giants’ 24-17 victory at FedEx Field, stating play should have been stopped to eliminate the “obvious confusion’’ about the down and distance that led to the Redskins running a play thinking it was first down when it actually was third down.
The Redskins, trailing by seven points, were out of timeouts just after the two-minute warning. If referee Jeff Triplette had indeed made the correct move and stopped the clock to sort out the confusion, the Giants would have been plenty steamed.
“Let’s face it: They don’t have any timeouts, the clock is moving, that should have been straightened out in the first place, but it wasn’t,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said Monday. “There’s a lot of things going on out there, and the referee allowed that the game would continue to play and then made the correction. We would have been upset had the clock been stopped, sure we would have. Not that it would have made a difference, but we would have.’’
The details:
A catch by Pierre Garcon on second-and-5 was spotted short of a first down at the Washington 45-yard line. Triplette signaled it was third down. But with the Redskins rushing to the line in hurry-up mode, head linesman Phil McKinnely incorrectly motioned for the crew to move the chains, which caused the sideline down boxes to incorrectly read first down.
“In this situation where there is obvious confusion as to the status of the down, that play should have been stopped prior to third down and the correct down communicated to both clubs,” NFL officiating director Dean Blandino said Monday in a statement. “This should have occurred regardless of the fact that Washington had no timeouts and it was inside two minutes.”
The only member of the crew who can rule and signal a first down is the referee. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said he requested a measurement, but was told by an official that he didn’t need one because it was a first down. Robert Griffin III then threw a pass that was dropped by tight end Fred Davis, a play that likely would not have been called if the Redskins knew it was indeed third-and-1. Shanahan said the confusion “did affect our play-calling.’’
Triplette then announced it was fourth down and later explained he did not shut the play down “because that would have given an unfair advantage’’ to the Redskins, who were out of timeouts.
That was the wrong decision.
“We signaled third down on the field,’’ Triplette said after the game. “The stakes were moved incorrectly. After that play, we said it was still third down. We had signaled third down prior to the play starting. The stakes just got moved incorrectly.”
On fourth-and-1, Griffin completed a pass to Garcon for six yards, but safety Will Hill yanked the ball away from Garcon, allowing the Giants to run out the clock.
“I remember turning to the referee and saying, ‘That’s not a first down,’ ’’ Justin Tuck said. “Obviously they’re hurrying up, you don’t really have time to argue it. I think at the end of the day, it was actually the right call. It might not have come across in the right manner, but I think it was the right call.’’