Referee Jeff Triplette: ‘the stakes were moved incorrectly’ in Redskins’ loss
By Mike Dyce
Sunday Night Football ended with a but of controversy thanks to the officiating crew. They were driving late in the game and needed a first down. Pierre Garcon caught a pass on second and five but appeared to be tackled just shy of the first down. Head
“Well, I said I wanted a measurement,” Redskins coach Mike Shanahan explained, “and (the official) said, ‘You don’t have to, it’s a first down.'”
Thinking it was first and 10 they took a shot down field, but it was actually third and one. After the incompletion it was fourth and one, while Shanahan was under the impression that it was second and 10.
“After I saw it was fourth down, I asked (the official), ‘You already told me it was first down.’ He didn’t say anything,” Shanahan said, via NFL.com.
Referee Jeff Triplette explained that “the stakes were moved incorrectly.”
“We signaled third down on the field,” Triplette said, via Pro Football Talk. “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.”
“[T]here are no timeouts in this situation,” Triplette said. “We just didn’t shut it down in that situation because that would have given an unfair advantage.”
The Redskins would beg to differ.
“All I know is we had the pass to Fred, (and) we thought that was first down,” Griffin said. “The chains said first down. When we came back, we think it’s second-and-10, and they’re yelling out it’s fourth down.
“No explanation, no measurement,” quarterback Robert Griffin III added. “They didn’t stop the clock to allow the chains to move back. We decided to call the play and go for it on fourth down.”