The Washington Commanders have won seven consecutive games heading into Sunday’s NFC championship game in Philadelphia against the Eagles. However, that winning streak almost ended at one back in Week 15 when the Commanders escaped New Orleans with a 20-19 victory.
Washington controlled the game, leading 14-0, but the game came down to the final play. As time expired, the Saints scored a touchdown to make it 20-19. Instead of going for the tie, New Orleans interim coach Darren Rizzi went for the two-point conversion and win. The pass fell incomplete, and Washington held on for the victory.
The Saints should have never been in position to attempt the two-point conversion. Here’s why.
Refs stopped the game clock for 4 seconds when it should have been running
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
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 15, 2024
The officials stopped the clock with nine seconds remaining for about four seconds, allowing the Saints to spike the ball and have one more play. This could have cost Washington the game. Fortunately, the Commanders won, and the NFL never explained the officiating miscue.
Shawn Hochuli was the referee that day. The NFL released referee assignments for this week’s championship games, and Hochuli’s crew will be in Philadelphia.
Here’s what Hochuli said about the officiating error after that game.
“The covering official mistakenly stopped the clock in that situation,” he said. “The clock should not have stopped.”
Even more unfortunate, Hochuli said it wasn’t reviewable.
“No, it’s not a situation that is reviewable.”
That was it.
Needless to say, Hochuli’s history with Washington is questionable. According to X user @nflrefstats1, 48% of the Commanders’ offensive holding calls this season came in the two games Hochuli and Alex Kemp officiated. Kemp is working with Hochuli’s crew this weekend.
Also, the Eagles are 6-0 in games Hochuli has officiated under head coach Nick Sirianni.
#WASvsPHI officiating crew cheat sheet
The Shawn Hochuli led unit w’ additions from Alex Kemp, Clay Martin, Brad Allen ,Clete Blakeman crews
The Hochuli/Kemp/Martin contigent will be monitoring the trenches
This is important as Hochuli & Martin rank No.1 & 2 respectively w’ 60%… pic.twitter.com/qezwyF7dft— nflrefstats (@nflrefstats1) January 21, 2025
Here are some more interesting numbers, courtesy of Glenn Erby of Eagles Wire.
Hochuli has been one of the referees with the highest penalty count this season and tends to average high numbers in the games he calls. So far this season, he has called 16 games, penalizing the home team 108 times and the visitors 113 times. Hochuli has averaged 13 penalties per game, 48.87% on the home team, and the home team has won 62.50% of the games he has called.
These numbers don’t indicate what will happen Sunday, but they do provide some critical context ahead of the Commanders’ and Eagles’ third meeting of the season.