Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke lobbed a pass to wide receiver Curtis Samuel with just seconds remaining on Sunday night. But with New York Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes draped all over Samuel, it fell incomplete and ended Washington’s comeback bid.
It was a bang-bang play and, objectively, should have been called defensive pass interference.
The pass is incomplete and the @Giants are going to win 👀
📺: #NYGvsWAS on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/BooZSZJZF4 pic.twitter.com/5SsnxWUUER— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2022
“Pass interference is a judgment call. To the officials it didn’t rise to what they felt was a restriction, thus they didn’t call it. That’s basically the bottom line there. It’s a judgment call and they didn’t believe it was pass interference,” head official John Hussey told the pool reporter after the game.
That explanation did not sit well with Commanders head coach Ron Rivera.
“Don’t ask me about the referees because I can’t answer the question,” an obviously frustrated Rivera said after the game.
But Giants head coach Brian Daboll saw things a bit differently. He thought Holmes made a “good play” on the ball because, well… He’d never admit to benefiting from a penalty, especially when so many have gone against New York this season.
“That was a good play. Good play,” Daboll said with a smile.
NFL officials have been consistently inconsistent this season. They missed that call whether Daboll thought it was a “good play” or not. They also missed several calls that cost the Giants a win in Week 13, so the scales end up a bit more balanced.
