‘Can’t put the game in the refs’ hands’

On a evening when the Eagles fumbled away the incredible turnover luck they’d appreciated through an undefeated run, Philadelphia however had a possibility to get the ball again, trailing Washington 26-21 with a lot more than 90 seconds remaining for Jalen Hurts and the offense.

However, Eagles defensive stop Brandon Graham was flagged for hitting Taylor Heinicke late soon after the QB gave himself up, smartly kneeling just after his reads were not right away open.

After the video game, Graham claimed Monday that he believed Heinicke was trying to get up and preserve the participate in alive.

“I was just trying to contact him down, since it just seemed like he was heading to get up,” the veteran defensive stop stated, via the official transcript. “You just by no means know. But that’s on me. I very own that a single. That’s on me.”

The 15-property penalty authorized the Commanders to milk the clock inside 10 seconds and forced Philly to attempt a previous-second pitch participate in, which Washington turned into a free of charge six points with zeros on the clock in the 32-21 earn.

Referee Alex Kemp mentioned to pool reporter Zach Berman just after the video game that Graham evidently hit Heinicke late.

“That was my get in touch with. I experienced ruled the quarterback had clearly presented himself up,” Kemp explained. “Hence, he is down and a defenseless participant. The contact by Philadelphia No. 55 was not only late but also to the head and neck region.”

Whether or not you feel Kemp need to have swallowed his whistle in that significant moment on a strike that was not that egregious is an additional make a difference. By the letter of the rule, Graham’s hit absolutely arrived soon after Heinicke kneeled himself down.

“We can’t set the video game in the refs’ palms,” Graham stated. “In that position, I just have to know if he goes down, it’s Okay. For me, I was just hustling to the participate in making an attempt to make positive he was down and just striving to get off the subject.”

A 13-yr veteran, Graham need to have known greater. No matter if he had a brain fart and failed to understand Heinicke experienced in fact specified himself up, was racing teammate Hassan Reddick to get credited for the sack or basically pulled a White Goodman on a evening he nary sniffed the QB (a single whole stress), it was an mistake that finished the Eagles’ likelihood of a comeback bid to keep the undefeated period alive.

However, Eagles head mentor Nick Sirianni observed that the get in touch with is just not what price Philly a 9- report.

“Which is not what misplaced us the soccer sport,” he reported. “The three turnovers shed us the recreation. The time of possession loses you the video game. We misplaced it collectively: offense, protection, specific teams, we lost it jointly. Which is what shed us the sport.”

No, if the penalty were being the purpose Philly misplaced, it would be a lot less complicated to swallow. As a substitute, the defense got operate above, and the offense bumbled its probabilities. The boneheaded enjoy by Graham, nonetheless, did wipe away our prospect as viewers to see one far more pressure-packed drive with the game on the line. That was a bummer.