Washington Football Team studs and duds from Week 16 loss vs. Panthers

Dud No. 5 – The referees

You guys know I don’t usually bring up the officiating. Usually, there are suspect calls on both sides, and in a small enough quality to overlook it. But on Sunday, the Washington Football Team seriously got the short end of the stick.

It started in the first quarter. Dwayne Haskins dropped back to pass, but as he released, a defender got his hand on the ball and impacted the path. At first, it looked like an incompletion, and replays confirmed that Haskins had pushed the ball forward, signifying an incomplete pass. But the referees called it a fumble, and maintained that ruling after a review, giving the Panthers the ball back.

That alone was disappointing, but it wasn’t unacceptable — at least if the referees maintained their “let the play run” philosophy later on. But they didn’t.

In the second half, Carolina was driving, and Washington forced a fumble, which they recovered. Referees stopped the play after the fumble was recovered and returned halfway to the end zone, citing the cessation forward progress, then moved on to the next play without a discussion.

Rather than let the play run and then reviewing, as the referees had done before, they directly and recklessly interfered with what might have been a game-changing play. It was a decision directly contrary to an earlier call, and it cost the Washington Football Team, even if they might not have won with that play alone. That kind of incongruence shouldn’t be allowed from an officiating cast.