Refs bail out Falcons, screw Raiders with horrible roughing passer call on late stop

The Atlanta Falcons curled up into a shell and hoped they could make it out of Las Vegas with a victory on Monday Night Football by doing the very least. That strategy nearly backfired on them until they got a little help from the referees.

The Las Vegas Raiders had been pretty hapless all game, but a late touchdown from Desmond Ridder to Ameer Abdullah put them back in it. Their defense just needed a stop before the two-minute warning to give their offense a chance. And wouldn't you know it, they got it...if only the ref hadn't throw a penalty for roughing the passer.

Does this look like roughing the passer to you?

The officials determined Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane hit Kirk Cousins high. It's an automatic roughing the passer penalty and on third down it resulted in an automatic first down.

The penalty gave the Falcons another set of downs, which allowed them to drain the clock to the two-minute warning while forcing the Raiders to use up all their time outs.

The Raiders defense did ultimately get a stop on the next third down, giving the ball back to Desmond Ridder and company with 1:50 left on the clock. However, LV couldn't get down the field quickly enough for anything more than two desperation Hail Mary attempts at the death.

Even if the refs hadn't gotten involved with that dubious foul, the Raiders would have had a hard time winning. They struggled to find the endzone all game. They're a 12-loss team for a reason. Winning isn't their forte.

Still, extra time and timeouts do make a huge difference for a team trying to pull off a late comeback. They made the plays they needed to give themselves a shot at those Hail Marys. A few extra seconds could have gotten them much closer. A timeout could have let them take their time.

The Falcons opened the door for Las Vegas to come back by failing to put their foot on the gas and pull away. They got lucky the refs were on their side in the end.