NFL Refs Accused Of 'Rigging' Game Clock On Sunday
12/15/2024 09:35 PM
NFL referees have been accused by fans of manipulating the game clock during Sunday's game.
The New Orleans Saints nearly came from behind to top the Washington Commanders at the Caesar's Superdome on Sunday afternoon. New Orleans quarterback Spencer Rattler threw a touchdown pass with time expiring, to bring his team within one point. The Saints, who won't be making the playoffs, decided to go for two points and the win. The failed, sealing the victory for Dan Quinn's squad.
But leading up to that final play, the NFL's referees were accused of gifting the Saints extra time on the clock.
On a 4th and 3 from Washington's 8-yard line, Rattler found tight end Foster Moreau. The tight end gained enough yardage for the first down, though he came up short of the goal line. With the clock winding down, the Saints had to hurry up and spike the ball, to avoid the game clock running out.
However, in mysterious fashion, the game clock was stopped for a couple of seconds, giving the Saints precious time to line up and spike the football.
What happened here?
Refs stopped the game clock for 4 seconds when it should have been running
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 15, 2024
freezes at :09 while play clock ticks from :39 to :35
game should have been over
how can they make a mistake like this pic.twitter.com/aWyIGWb9Hy
NFL officiating crews handle the clock.
"The crew was egregious all day. Look at the end of the 3rd and the FG try. 5 seconds went by," one fan wrote.
"The ref stopped the clock, you can't see it on this goofy narrow phone view, but on the wide view the ref runs in waving his arms to stop the clock. I saw it live, it made no sense," one fan added.
"They stopped the clock and gave them a free 20 yard pass to a TE running only 1 second off against the bears too...NFL getting sloppy rigging these games for bad teams," one fan added.
"Every week we talk about these issues. Until there are ramifications and consequences this will continue to happen," one fan added.
The Commanders, meanwhile, held on for the win, improving to 9-5 on the season, while the Saints dropped to a disappointing 5-9 on the season.
