NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay reacts to missed DPI call in Giants-Commanders (Video)

NBC rules analyst and expert Terry McAulay says refs missed what was ‘clearly a foul’ and pass interference should have been called against the Giants. 

The entire weekend of sports was defined by total chaos, so it’s almost fitting that the final game of the day ended in utter insanity.

On fourth down and mere yards away from potentially tying a pivotal game laced with playoff implications, Commanders wide receiver Curtis Samuel failed to secure a pass in the endzone, but appeared to have been heavily interfered with by New York Giants defensive back Darnay Holmes.

Holmes was dropped all over Samuel and pretty clearly initiated contact before the ball was in the air and well before it was in the vicinity of the two players. Despite how obvious the foul appeared, no flags were thrown and the ball was turned over on downs.

After the game, which ended moments later on a kneel down by New York, NBC brought in rules analyst and former NFL official Terry McAulay to break down whether or not refs missed a defensive pass interference call.

In the eyes of McAulay, there was no question about it.

“It’s clearly a foul”, McAuley said on the NBC broadcast after the game while showing the replay of the incident. “He grabs his arm, he plays through the back and it’s clearly before the ball gets there. This is defensive pass interference and it really should be called whether it’s the end of the game, the beginning of the game, doesn’t matter; it’s always a foul and should have been called.”

The ramifications of the missed call are pretty huge.

With the win, New York leaps all the way up to the No. 6 seed in the NFC Playoff Picture, while the Commanders remain in the playoffs but are hanging on for dear life now. Both Detroit and Seattle are knocking on the door at 7-7, with Washington still scheduled to play Dallas this season.

One more loss drops Washington out of the postseason and first the Seahawks then the Lions would be in line to control the No. 7 seed.

Can you challenge pass interference in the NFL?

The quick answer is no, but that’s just the tip of a rather large iceberg.

As the rules are currently written, pass interference is not something that can be reviewed after the play. This isn’t the first time such a suggestion was made — even by third parties unaffiliated with the aggrieved party — which means it’s unlikely to be the last.

The most egregious was back in 2018 when the Los Angeles Rams committed an obvious and intentional pass interference that was not called on the field despite how clear the foul was. Even with everyone in the world, including the players involved, convinced it was pass interference the play was not penalized and helped contribute to the Saints losing the game.

That was in the NFC Championship Game, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

If an obvious pass interference call can go unpenalized on that stage of the game, it’s unlikely to change because of something similar happening in Week 15 of the regular season — no matter how high the stakes were on Sunday night.