They came up just short during a 27-26 overtime defeat to the Denver Broncos, in Week 13, but the Washington Commanders had every reason to resent NFL officials after the referees blew several calls late in the fourth quarter, leaving one franchise legend seething.
Former running back, kick returner and occasional quarterback Brian Mitchell, who helped the 1991 team win a Super Bowl, didn’t pull any punches when taking aim at the officials.
Speaking to JP Finlay of 106.7 The Fan, Mitchell explained, “This is my problem with the league and it has been my problem forever. Everybody gets scrutinized for mistakes made. Players, coaches, everybody, but the damn zebras. They get to make dumb-[Expletive] calls, and they show up the next week and they make some more dumb-[Expletive] calls.”
While there were a lot of officiating mistakes to dissect, Finlay and Mitchell zeroed in on an intentional grounding call against Commanders’ quarterback Marcus Mariota. He was flagged for throwing the ball away under pressure, despite heaving his throw in the direction of wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
As Finlay pointed out, NBC Sports rules expert and former NFL referee Terry McAulay admitted during the live broadcast, “So this is absolutely not grounding, guys. He throws it over the head of No. 17, who is outside the numbers. By rule, that is not intentional grounding.”
Unfortunately, the on-field crew led by Land Clark saw things differently, and the Commanders were hit with a loss of down. Worse still, this wasn’t the only incorrect call that went against Mariota and Co. in a clutch moment of the game.
Commanders Consistently Undone by Bad Calls
Not even replay could save the Commanders from erratic gameday officials. Perhaps the single worst call of the night occurred when replay judged Mariota was sacked by Broncos outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman, who clearly tripped Washington’s signal-caller before he broke the pocket. Instead of the 15-yard penalty the Commanders were owed, officials deemed the play worthy of a sack to end the drive.
As Super Bowl-winning former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy put it, “The NFL continues to use replay to correct some calls but not to correct obvious missed calls. This creates a credibility problem. When replay is used to move the spot of a ball 6 inches or used to see if the QB’s knee touched the ground— but can’t be used to see if he was tripped or can’t be used to see if the clock is at :00 when players are pointing to the clock it creates issues. We either need to correct ALL OBVIOUS missed calls or we need to let the officials call the games on the field and live with it.”
Credibility was indeed in short supply when McLaurin was later flagged for a false start. He was apparently not set for long enough pre-snap, but replay clearly showed otherwise, with Rate the Refs highlighting the costly folly.
That phantom false start was entered into the books just one play before Mariota’s so-called intentional grounding. Those two penalties that never were and should never have been, cost the Commanders 15 invaluable yards.
It’s tough enough playing against a Broncos defense loaded with gifted athletes and expertly designed by coordinator Vance Joseph. The officials made it tougher still, so it’s a credit to Mariota and the Commanders they still took the game to the final play.
Marcus Mariota Explained Failure on Final Play
An epic game finally drew to a close when Broncos edge-rusher Nik Bonitto batted away Mariota’s attempted two-point pass. Denver’s defense ran an all-out blitz, something Mariota detailed Joseph had teased earlier but saved for the decisive moment.
Mariota described how Joseph “did a good job with showing cover 0 looks but not always bringing it. Showed on OT TD but didn’t bring; showed on 2 pt conversion and brought it,” per ESPN’s John Keim.
As for the logic of Commanders head coach Dan Quinn going for two and the win, instead of tying the score with an extra point, Mariota had no regrets. He revealed “there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Dan Quinn was gonna go for 2 at the end. Said Vance Joseph brought the house, and he knew he’d have to get some depth. Just couldn’t get it over Bonitto,” according to Tom Schad of The Washington Post.
The missed opportunity stings, but the Commanders can still take pride in the fight they showed as a 3-8 team pushing a genuine contender to the limit. Mariota carried the fight by completing 28 of 50 passes and throwing for two touchdowns, including one made possible by an instant classic of a catch.
What’s harder to accept is the injustice of so many wrong calls costing the Commanders in critical moments.
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