Ron Rivera, Commanders players blast terrible officiating after SNF loss

The Washington Commanders weren’t happy after several calls went against them in the waning moments of their loss to the New York Giants on Sunday night.

The Commanders fell victim of not one, but two questionable calls on Sunday night in an eventual loss to the Giants. With the defeat, Washington fell to the No. 7 slot in the NFC Playoff picture, and how hold just a narrow advantage over the likes of the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions.

The calls in question occurred on the team’s final drive of the game. Down eight points, Terry McLaurin was called for an illegal motion penalty on a third-and-goal AFTER he had checked with the line judge to make sure he was lined up properly.

To make matters worse, on the eventual fourth-down play call, New York got away with what looked to be a rather clear pass interference penalty as Taylor Henicke threw to Curtis Samuel in the end zone.

Ron Rivera, Commanders players react to bad calls

Washington head coach Ron Rivera tried to avoid a fine in his postgame press conference, but was obviously upset with the officiating, or lack thereof on their final shot at the end zone.

The question was asked, anyway, and Rivera confirmed the reporter in question’s opinion of the play, which may be enough to earn the Commanders head coach a fine these days.

McLaurin was asked in the locker room about receiving confirmation from the line judge, while stating “I’m not trying to get fined.” However, McLaurin went on to say he gave the official a thumbs up twice to make sure he was on the line of scrimmage.

Heinicke was not as kind when asked about the call which went against his receiver.

“He gives the thumbs-up to Terry, what the f— is that?” Heinicke questioned.

All are valuable questions, and surely few, if any, will be answered reliably by the NFL.