|
 The league said officials should have stopped play and eliminated
confusion about the down and distance at the end of the Giants'
24-17 victory at Washington.
"I talked to Dean earlier today, he gave me a call and just went
over the scenario," Shanahan said, referring to Dean Blandino, who
oversees NFL officiating. "Obviously they made a mistake and you
live with it."
With New York leading by seven points just after the two-minute
warning, a catch by the Redskins' Pierre Garcon on second-and-5 was
spotted short of a first down at the Washington 45. Referee Jeff
Triplette signaled third down. But the head linesman, with the
Redskins in a hurry-up offense, incorrectly motioned for the crew to
advance the chains, which caused the down boxes to read first down.
"In this situation where there is obvious confusion as to the status
of the down, that play should have been stopped prior to third down
and the correct down communicated to both clubs," Blandino said
Monday in a statement. "This should have occurred regardless of the
fact that Washington had no timeouts and it was inside two minutes."
Only the referee can rule and signal a first down. The official
nearest to the down markers and chain crew, the head linesman, is
required to wait for that first-down signal from the referee before
moving the chains. That did not happen at FedEx Field.
After Washington's incomplete pass on the next play — which many
Redskins believed was on first down — the chains were moved back and
the down boxes correctly reset to fourth down.
Blandino said instant replay review was not used on Garcon's catch
because the replay official determined the ball was "correctly
spotted short of the line to gain for a first down."
Shanahan was asked if he would be in favor of scrapping the chains
and using laser technology to help spot the ball.
"You talk about it at the owners' meeting, kind of go through the
variables, exactly how accurate it is and how it would be
implemented," he said. "I think there's a lot of technology that you
could possibly use, but before you do that, you go through all the
situations and find out if it's effective and how effective."
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Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III said the confusion affected
the play calling. "The chain said first down, and then when we
came back, we think it's second-and-10, and they're yelling out
it's fourth down," Griffin said. "No explanation. No
measurement. Didn't stop the clock to allow the chains to move
back. And we just had to go ahead and call the play."
Griffin did complete a 6-yard pass to Garcon on fourth-and-1,
but safety Will Hill stripped the ball. The Giants then ran out
the clock.
"I told him I wanted a measurement because I knew it was close,"
Shanahan said, not specifying which official he was referring
to. "It was inches. And he said, 'No, it's a first down.' And he
moved the chains. And then after I saw it was fourth down, I
asked him, 'You already told me it was first down.' He didn't
say anything. So that was quite disappointing."
Speaking to a pool reporter Sunday night, Triplette said: "We
signaled third down on the field. The stakes were moved
incorrectly. After that play, we said it was still third down.
We had signaled third down prior to the play starting. The
stakes just got moved incorrectly."
Triplette defended not stopping play, saying it would have given
an "unfair advantage." But Blandino said Monday that was the
wrong decision.
Giants defensive end Justin Tuck, who played every snap, said he
was aware it was not a first down.
"I remember turning to the referee and saying, 'That's not a
first down,'" Tuck said Monday. "Obviously, they're hurrying
up, you don't really have time to argue it.
"I think at the end of the day, it was actually the right call.
It might not have come across in the right manner, but I think
it was the right call. And when the ball is getting snapped that
fast, it's very tough for a referee to get all of these calls
right."
___
AP NFL website:
http://pro32.ap.org/
[Associated
Press; BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer]
AP Sports Writers Joseph
White and Tom Canavan contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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