In a statement from the NFL concerning a botched decision from the referees in the Giants – Redskins game, the league’s VP of Officiating had this to say:
“In this situation where there is obvious confusion as to the status of the down, play should have been stopped prior to third down and the correct down communicated to both clubs,” Blandino said in the statement. “This should have occurred regardless of the fact that Washington had no timeouts and it was inside two minutes.”
Basically, late in the game and with the Skins driving, Robert Griffin III completed a pass to Pierre Garcon, which was spotted as a 9-yard gain. However, the head linesman motioned for the chains to move anyway, and no one thought it necessary to stop him. HUH? Shouldn’t the referee, Jeff Triplette, not have blown the play dead? Oh, it gets better.
The Redskins then ran a “1st and 10” play (which should have been 3rd and 1), which turned out to be an incomplete pass. The chains were then re-set and a 4th and 1 was brought up. Al Michaels went Bat Shit Crazy on commentary, and Will Hill stripped the ball from a Skins reciever and the rest is history.
When that very question was asked of him, the referee said that he didn’t stop the play because Washington was out of timeouts and it would have been an unfair advantage for them. Clearly someone needs to read the rulebook again.
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