Washington Commanders

The Washington Commanders' playoff hopes dipped considerably with their 20-12 loss to the New York Giants.

[Washington Commanders](https://www.si.com/nfl/team/washington-football)? An opportunity to get breathing room on Sunday slipped by the wayside for Washington. San Francisco has already clinched the NFC West, is on a seven-game winning streak and has extra time to rest after beating the Seattle Seahawks 21-13 on Thursday Night Football. The 19-yard touchdown made it a one-possession game in the third quarter. On third and goal, Dexter Lawrence sacked Heinicke, and the Giants recovered the fumble. On the two-point conversion, an offensive pass interference call on Dotson forced Joey Slye to attempt a 43-yard field goal, and he missed.

Dotson, who also had a 19-yard touchdown catch, finished with four receptions for a career-high 105 yards. His six receiving touchdowns trail Terry McLaurin (7) ...

Heinicke lost a second fumble in the red zone in the fourth quarter. Rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux gave the Giants a 7-3 lead in the second quarter with a strip sack and fumble recovery for a touchdown. [performed ](https://twitter.com/Sam4TR/status/1604625844936314882)their [“Commanders Song”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/11/18/commanders-song-left-hand-up/?itid=lk_inline_manual_16) on the concourse before kickoff. In the second quarter, as part of its 18-play, 97-yard touchdown drive, the Giants converted on fourth and nine from the Washington 35-yard line. “The Giants should’ve won the first game.” Washington had a week off after its tie with the Giants at MetLife Stadium two weeks ago, while New York got walloped by the division-leading Philadelphia Eagles. Way led all punters in Pro Bowl fan voting, and for good reason. That said, Curtis Samuel was absolutely mauled by Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes on the fourth-down incompletion by Heinicke that sealed Washington’s fate. It was the Giants’ first double-digit halftime lead in 30 games, which was In a ceremony shown on the video board between the first and second quarters, a group of local teenagers representing the Chabad Teen Network [lit a football-themed menorah](https://www.instagram.com/p/CmVaEicvZyl/) at the stadium to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Washington advanced as far as the New York 31-yard line on its opening drive, a methodical 10-play march that featured a heavy dose of rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. The Commanders crossed midfield three of the first four times they touched the ball, but managed only three points on those possessions.

The Washington Commanders and New York Giants played a pivotal game with major playoff implications on Sunday Night Football in Week 15.

Meanwhile, the Commanders fall to 7-6-1 and now have a 35 percent chance to make the playoffs after the loss. I checked to see if I was good the first time and he was like, ‘Move up a little bit.’ So when I moved up, I checked to see if I was good, and he said I was good. Here’s what the officials said on the no-call for pass interference. Washington head coach Ron Rivera was not happy with the officials after the game, but didn’t want to get fined for criticizing them. Terry McLaurin looks at the ref asking if he’s good - ref points back at McLaurin as of to indicate he’s good. The ball was moved back five yards, and the pass interference no-call happened on the next play. Here’s the quote, Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke threw the ball into the end zone for Curtis Samuel, but the Giants broke up the pass to secure the win. Watch the video here: The margins for one of those teams was going to get much slimmer after a loss, and a controversial ending has Washington feeling like the referees took a win right out of their hands. Watch the play here: The NFC East rivals are each looking up at the Eagles and Cowboys in the division, but if the season ended today, both the Giants and Commanders would qualify for the playoffs.

The New York Giants and Washington Commanders gave us one of the most wild games of Week 15, as the Giants defense pulled off a goal line stand with less ...

What we learned from this exchange is that it's not the official's job to line up for the receiver. Question: Lets talk about the Terry McLaurin play, was that indeed illegal formation and what did you see? However, McLaurin did attempt to check with the official to see if he was lined up correctly. Did the official give him confirmation that he was then good? However, McLaurin was flagged for lining up incorrectly, which nullified the play. [New York Giants](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/NYG/new-york-giants/) and [Washington Commanders](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/WAS/washington-commanders/) gave us one of the most wild games of Week 15, as the Giants defense pulled off a goal line stand with less than a minute remaining to leave Landover with a 20-12 victory.

In its biggest game of the year, Washington blew it. "I know the fans are disappointed but we're even more disappointed," Charles Leno said.

The Commanders escaped the Week 12 meeting with [Atlanta](https://theathletic.com/nfl/team/falcons/) when a deflected pass by defensive tackle [Daron Payne](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/daron-payne-450VHapMEuOzbmlk/) turned into a game-saving interception. [Daniel Jones](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/daniel-jones-OeqLvbJNbGyXeJqu/), always a standout against Washington, improved to 5-1-1 for his career in the rivalry while winning his first prime-time start in 10 tries. [Carson Wentz](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/carson-wentz-znOb6BnXeLfSyHa7/) on the night that the quarterback was on the active roster for the first time since fracturing his ring finger in Week 6. [Titans](https://theathletic.com/nfl/team/titans/). Washington’s trailed 14-3 at halftime, its most significant deficit since [Green Bay](https://theathletic.com/nfl/team/packers/) led 14-3 in Week 7, a game the Commanders won 23-21. [Jahan Dotson](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/jahan-dotson-q0QPlrY9858wcFnP/)’s 19-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter, Heinicke and Samuel connected for a two-point conversion on a rub play, but officials called Dotson for pass interference. [on a perfect throw from Heinicke](https://twitter.com/Commanders/status/1604675838427168768), was Washington’s only score on three red-zone trips. The breaks went against them this time, as did a chance to make a winning splash in a spotlight game, leaving the locker room bewildered. Deep sighs were the only noise emanating from left tackle [Charles Leno Jr.](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/charles-leno-jr-ykZs6TzZNvLtmcWX/), besides the sounds of scissors slicing through athletic tape around his ankles. As fellow running back [Brian Robinson](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/brian-robinson-rZB1Zt6xVz0mDr2r/) vented behind him, Gibson looked hazily toward the middle of the room, seemingly unable to process the last three hours of high-stakes football played under the lights. “I can’t confirm whether the official even saw that or not, but (McLaurin) was clearly off the line of scrimmage.” They’ve played in nationally televised games, but often as the team that league-wide fans view with a side-eye.

LANDOVER, Md. -- It took two questions for Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera to shut down any media probes into how the officiating played into his ...

[Washington Commanders](https://www.si.com/nfl/team/washington-football)? "Yeah, I did," McLaurin responded when asked if he heard the official tell him he was good. "If you look through the game I lined up there pretty much every play so I checked to see I was good the first time, and he was like I can move up a little bit. "All I can do is try to make the play when the ball is in the air. "Because I can't answer the question." [@DHarrison82](https://twitter.com/DHarrison82) and on the [Locked On Commanders podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/4F9T8e4JLYDZrvOAW0MPrf?si=5285ac379bde4842).

It's not easy to be an NFL referee. With just seconds remaining in Sunday's Washington Commanders-New York Giants game, Commanders running back Brian ...

The second was late in the fourth quarter. “To the officials it didn’t rise to what they felt was a restriction, thus they didn’t call it,” Hussey said in a pool report. “I checked to see if I was good the first time, and he was like, ‘Move up a little bit,’” McLaurin told reporters after the game. The Raiders tied the game a few minutes earlier on a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Derek Carr to wide receiver Keelan Cole. It’s a judgment call and they didn’t believe it was pass interference.” “It’s clearly a foul,” NBC rules analyst and former NFL referee Terry McAulay said on Sunday Night Football.

In the Washington Commanders' locker room, as players dissected the devastating loss, those on offense returned again and again to struggles in the red zone ...

On the last play of the drive, Heinicke couldn’t hit Samuel in the back left corner of the end zone. On the first drive, Heinicke marched 91 yards without facing a second down, and he hit Dotson for a touchdown from the high red zone. In the high red zone, Turner’s tendency to remain about 50-50 run-pass seems advantageous because Washington is effective running and Heinicke is about league average passing, completing 10 of 16 passes (62.5 percent) for three touchdowns and no interceptions. In the high red zone this season, Washington has gained a first down or scored a touchdown on 34.1 percent of its plays, the sixth-best rate in the NFL. Inside the low red zone, Heinicke has completed just 8 of 24 attempts (33.3 percent). In the Washington Commanders’ locker room, as players dissected the devastating loss, those on offense returned again and again to struggles in the red zone. do not run well in the red zone.” In the low red zone, that figure drops to 23.3 percent, the sixth-worst rate in the league. They’ve never complained about one-dimensional play-calling — Turner calls 48 percent runs in the red zone and 52 percent passes — and they’ve never suggested Heinicke struggles to zip passes into tighter windows, though it seems to be a factor. And one troubling trend that continued Sunday night was the closer Washington got to the goal line, the worse it was. Under Heinicke, Washington has had 23 red-zone drives, tied for 20th in the NFL, and scored a touchdown just 47.8 percent of the time, which ranks 25th. Is this primarily on the play-calling of offensive coordinator Scott Turner, or is he limited by his quarterback and offensive line?