Refs screw Commanders on soft holding call before Kayvon Thibodeaux TD

The Washington Commanders started off as the better team against the Giants on Sunday Night Football. The biggest difference in the game so far? Washington’s passing offense hasn’t established any sort of rhythm, as Brian Robinson’s accounted for nearly half of Taylor Heinicke’s 40 passing yards.

That, and the fact Kayvon Thibodeaux has absolutely feasted against the Commanders’ makeshift offensive line. After blowing up a few early handoffs to Curtis Samuel, you had a feeling Thibodeaux was headed for a game-changing play at some point.

Riding off the momentum of his run stuffs, Thibodeux bulldozed through left tackle Charles Leno with Washington in an empty set. Unable to feel the pressure coming from his blindside, Heinicke was strip-sacked, and Thibodeux recovered the loose football in the end zone to give the Giants a 7-3 lead.

On the previous play, though, Antonio Gibson moved the chains with an 11-yard run on second down. Penalties have plagued Washington early vs the Giants, and they reared their ugly head on this run, as Cornelius Lucas was called for a hold.

The only problem? We can’t spot the hold!

Commanders got screwed by the refs before Kayvon Thibodeaux’s defensive touchdown.

So this is what we’re calling? In a primetime rivalry game with massive playoff implications? This qualifies as a holding call?

Feels like the refs called this solely because Gibson’s run came off the left side. Lucas had Azeez Ojulari stonewalled on the edge. Did he have a hold of Ojulari’s shoulder pads? Maybe, but we’re talking a millisecond if anything. The bottom line is this was an extremely tacky call that had severe consequences.

Of course, that doesn’t excuse Leno for blowing his blocking assignment, or Heinicke not having a better feel for pressure (Leno deserves most of the blame). You could also attribute blame to Scott Turner for not calling a run with the Commanders offense pinned back on their own 10-yard line after the penalty.

All that said, Washington fans have every right to be upset with the call. Thibodeaux’s scoop-and-score simply never should’ve happened.

Just a disastrous turn of events for Washington, which went from sporting a 3-0 lead with a first down and plenty of breathing room to start a long drive, to down 7-3 in the blink of an eye (largely) because of poor officiating.

If this qualifies as a hold in a game of this magnitude, the zebras might as well throw flags on every play.

Let the kids play!

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