The Denver Broncos barely escaped Week 13 with a win, but they don’t ask how; they just ask how many. A 27-26 victory over the Washington Commanders gave the Broncos their ninth-straight win, pushing their record to 10-2 on the season. However, it appears as if they may have inadvertently gotten a helping hand from the game’s officiating crew along the way.
There were several controversial calls in this game from the referees, but perhaps the worst of the bunch saw Commanders’ quarterback Marcus Mariota get called for a very questionable intentional grounding penalty. In the immediate aftermath, it didn’t seem like the play was a penalty, and on Sunday, the NFL admitted that the officiating crew made the wrong call here.
NFL Admits Mistake from Broncos Win Over Commanders
After Denver opened overtime by driving down the field and scoring a touchdown, Washington began a lengthy drive that would eventually end with the team finding its way into the endzone. It took them a while to get there, though, and that was thanks in large part to a head-scratching intentional ground penalty called against Mariota.
On 1st & 15 from the Commanders’ 46-yard line, Mariota fired a ball over the head of wide receiver Terry McLaurin after quickly facing pressure under center. Mariota did not escape the pocket, which would automatically negate an intentional grounding penalty, but the ball appeared to be close enough in proximity to McLaurin for a penalty not to get called.
The officials disagreed, and instead of facing 2nd & 15, Washington faced 2nd & 25. While they did eventually pick up a first down, this set the Commanders back quite a bit, with the time lost as a result of this penalty potentially forcing them to go for a two-point conversion in an effort to win the game after their big score. When discussing the play, NFL rules analyst and club communications liaison Walt Anderson admitted the officials made the wrong call here.
“It wasn’t intentional grounding,” Anderson said on “NFL Network” Sunday morning. “The quarterback, he does not quite get out of the pocket, so he’s now got to throw the ball in the direction of a receiver, which it does. It goes right over number 17, McLaurin’s head, but unfortunately, the officials did not feel that the player was outside the number.”
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GettyDenver Broncos head coach Sean Payton looks on against the Washington Commanders.
At the end of the day, the Broncos did just enough to squeak out this win, as Nik Bonitto deflected Mariota’s pass attempt for a wide-open Jeremy McNichols at the line of scrimmage on the potential game-winning two-point conversion to ensure that Denver would once again escape with a victory. It wasn’t pretty, and it may have been a bit controversial, but the Broncos did what they needed to in order to leave with a win.
In Week 14, Denver will look to continue its winning streak when it takes on the Las Vegas Raiders. Should the Broncos come out on top, they would move back up to the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff picture, and they would also earn a tiebreaker over the New England Patriots (the current No. 1 seed) that could come in handy down the stretch. Kickoff for this divisional matchup is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.
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