Las Vegas Raiders vs Washington 2021 Week 13: Studs and Duds
Duds – NFL Officiating
We hate to be the guys that blame the officials for a team failing to do its job and win at home but there were a few plays where they made some egregious calls that swung the game in favor of Washington. The first that comes to mind was a terrible roughing the passer call on Maxx Crosby in the second quarter.
Washington was facing a third and long with about 3 minutes to go in the first half and a QB hit from Crosby forced an errant throw from Heinicke which would have given the Raiders back the ball with 2:44 left. Instead, the Washington drive was extended and they took another minute off the clock which hurt the Raiders’ chances of scoring a touchdown to close out the first half.
Crosby did everything right, he hit Heinicke in the chest and did not put his body weight on the QB after the hit. It was Heinicke’s follow-through that lead to the hit rather than Crosby initiating it and it was still inexplicably flagged. The roughing the passer calls are maddening enough as is even without it being inconsistently called.
The second play was just as bad as it kept a Washington drive alive that ended in a touchdown. In the third quarter, after a hold on first down that made it 1st and 20, Washington threw a screen to John Bates that was blown up by Johnathan Abram on a spectacular defensive play. Instead of it being 2nd and 20 however, Abram was flagged for a “low block” outside the tight end box which is apparently a new rule the NFL has implemented this season.
Abram was flagged for this despite the fact that he went low in order to make the tackle and not to just take on a block in the open field. We understand the need to protect blockers in the open field but is a 200lb defensive back just supposed to get mauled by a 315lb offensive lineman?
Even if that was the case, Abram and Brandon Scherff made contact with their shoulders first before Abram was able to make the tackle. The rule may be fine in spirit but this was an incorrect application which handed Washington a free 15 yards when they should have been facing a 2nd and 21 from their own 24.
The last call was more debatable as Derek Carr heaved up a prayer to Zay Jones on the final drive of the game to try and get into field goal range. The DB clearly tugged Jones’s jersey and interfered with him which is a call that we have seen made many times before. This time the referees chose to keep the flag in their pockets rather than make the right call.
The inconsistency is maddening and it is a constant pattern of poor performance from the NFL officials.