The clown car that NFL officiating has become hit another bump on the clown road Sunday after an egregious clock stoppage nearly cost the Washington Commanders a game against the New Orleans Saints.
With the Saints down 20-13 and driving late in the fourth quarter, New Orleans QB Spencer Rattler completed a pass to tight end Roster Moreau to convert crucial 4thh & 3. Moreau was brought down near the goal line with 11 seconds remaining on the clock. Because he was tackled inbounds and the Saints had no timeouts, players immediately scrambled to their feet to get set for the next play due to the running clock.
And the clock did run…for two seconds.
Then, mysteriously, once the clock hit nine seconds, it stopped running for about three seconds before starting again. That pause in the countdown gave the Saints time to get set and spike the ball with three seconds left.
On the next play, New Orleans scored a touchdown.
The two-point conversion attempt failed, and the game ended with the Commanders winning 20-19. However, the Saints should never have had a chance to score a touchdown, and the clock should have run out.
After the game, Referee Shawn Hochuli gave an interview to a pool reporter that did not restore confidence in fans who were outraged by the incident.
“At the end of the game, it was the third-to-last play, the Saints completed a pass short of the goal line, and the clock kept running, and it appeared that the clock stopped at nine seconds. I was wondering if you had an explanation for the stoppage?” the reporter asked.
“The covering official mistakenly stopped the clock in that situation,” Hochuli said. “The clock should not have stopped.”
Hochuli’s reply was brief and to the point when asked whether he had considered reviewing the incident.
“That’s all I have for you, Luke,” Hochuli said. “The covering official mistakenly stopped the clock at nine seconds, and it is not reviewable.”
Great job, everyone. Reaction to the appalling error left X users outraged and suspicious of the referee’s motives.
“it really makes it difficult to not believe there’s some sort of incentive for stuff like this,” one Xuser wrote. “this is far from a normal ref mistake and sure played a big difference for a lot of people.”
Another X user posted, “It’s pretty obvious to everyone watching each week that they have a gambling issue. They ignore it, but some of these guys have to have money on these games. The stuff they miss or butcher each week is embarrassing.”
“Suspend and investigate the official,” someone else suggested.
Even more scary, this wasn’t Hochuli’s crew’s only terrible call on the day.
On a play that likely would have killed the Saints drive near midfield, Dante Fowler Jr. was called for roughing the passer on this play.
Again, people will make insinuations and accusations about gambling as long as NFL officials make inexplicably awful decisions and the league offers no discipline or recourse. There’s no smoking-gun evidence that the league has a gambling problem. However, there’s iron-clad and undeniable proof the league has a credibility and competency problem with its officials.
It’s time to get that cleaned up.
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