The NFL released a statement today admitting that the Sunday Night Football game should have been stopped when the officials disagreed about which down was being played with less than two minutes remaining (via USAToday.com):
"In this situation where there is obvious confusion as to the status of the down, play should have been stopped prior to third down and the correct down communicated to both clubs. This should have occurred regardless of the fact that Washington had no timeouts and it was inside two minutes."
After the game, referee Jeff Triplette told the media he did not want to stop the game because he did not want to give Washington "an unfair advantage."
Here is what happened:
On second-and-five, Washington needed to get to the 46-yard line for a first down. Note that the first down marker (the official marker is on the near-side of the field) is exactly on the 46-yard line. It is common practice among officials to place the chains directly on a specific yard line (as opposed to between yard lines) unless close to the end zone. This makes determining first downs easier and quicker and speeds up the game.
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