Washington linebacker Cole Holcomb had just picked off Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott and returned it for a touchdown, cutting the Cowboys’ once insurmountable lead to 27-20 late in the fourth quarter.
Washington’s defense went back on the field, forced a quick punt, giving the WFT offense another chance to tie the game late.
Washington quarterback Kyle Allen began the drive with a completion to wide receiver Cam Sims. Allen threw a beautiful pass down the right sideline that DeAndre Carter dropped on the next play.
Suddenly, Washington faced a third-and-3 with just over two minutes remaining. Allen drops back, sees the pressure from Dallas defensive end Randy Gregory, and as Gregory brings him down, he unloads the football, in which a Dallas defender recovers.
The initial call on the field was a fumble.
After reviewing it for what seemed like several minutes, the officiating crew ruled the call stands, therefore ending the game. Washington’s comeback attempt was done due to a questionable officiating call.
Here’s the play. Judge for yourself.
¡¿Fumble para la victoria?!
Los Cowboys se hicieron del balón de Kyle Allen
@FOXSportsMX#NFLMX #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/5cAeHA2nxv
— NFL México (@nflmx) December 12, 2021
Your rooting interest will likely determine where you stand on this call, but there’s no doubt it is questionable.
After the game, NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson explained the ruling:
The ruling on the field was a fumble recovered by Dallas. So, an automatic review for us. There were two aspects that we looked at. The first was we were looking to see if the quarterback had control of the ball with his hand coming forward. We could confirm that he lost control of the ball before the hand came forward. And then the second aspect is we wanted to make sure that his knees were not down before he ended up losing control. And we were able to confirm that the knees were still up, so the ruling on the field stood.
Of course, the NFL is going to stand by the call. It’s what they do. And, besides, what does Washington get even if the NFL says it was a mistake? An apology letter? A bag of Hershey’s Kisses? It doesn’t matter. The call stands, whether Washington likes it or not, and we will never know if Allen could’ve brought Washington down the field to tie the game.
It’s a moot point if Carter catches the second-down pass.
The call did not cost Washington the game. A disastrous first half is what ultimately cost Washington the game.