The Redskins were the victims of an odd call that let the Panthers score a touchdown after one of the officials blew he whistle on the play.
It came on a first and 10 play at the Washington 30. DeAngelo Williams went around right end and cut up the sideline. He came close to stepping out of bounds and that apparently prompted one of the officials to blow the play dead. Williams continued on into the end zone and after a huddle he was awarded the touchdown. That game the Panthers a 7-3 lead.
Perry Riley certainly thought he heard a whistle. He appeared to have an angle on Williams but he eased up around the 15 yard line. That is where he said he was when he heard the whistle.
“From the angle I was coming from I couldn’t see if he stepped out of bounds or not. . . I could have pushed him out,” said the Redskins inside linebacker. “I didn’t want to push him out after the whistle and get a 15-yard penalty.”
When asked by a pool reporter, referee Carl Cheffers, who has been an NFL official since 2000 and a referee since 2008, said that his crew viewed it quite differently.
“We just felt when the whistle blew, that the player would have already scored a touchdown,” said Cheffers. “So, we tried to piece together if we had to spot -- by rule, we would have to put him down when the whistle blew, and we tried to decide where that spot would be, and we felt that spot would be in the end zone. “
When such divergent views occur, the guys in the striped shirts will prevail every time. The touchdown stood giving the Panthers a lead they would never relinquish.
Yes, if they watch the game video, the refs are going to see that Riley definitely would have pushed him out. Even slowing down, he had a shot at pushing him out, but stopped due to the whistle.
The Skins were listless overall, but that one was really bad. And there's no room in the NFL for judgment calls like that - blow the whistle, the play is dead. Period.
Posted by: Chip Free | Monday, November 05, 2012 at 07:16 AM