A Danny Woodhead touchdown catch was overturned by the referees on Sunday, helping the Washington Redskins beat the San Diego Chargers 30-24 in overtime.
Washington was up 24-21 late in the game and the Chargers were driving for what could have been a winning touchdown. Philip Rivers threw to Woodhead on 2nd-and-1 from the Washington six, and Woodhead took it to the sideline and made a dive for the end zone. Though he was pushed out of bounds by cornerback David Amerson, he reached for the pylon, which got knocked down, and the referees called it a touchdown. The score would have put San Diego up 27-24 with the extra point pending.
The officials reviewed the scoring play and overturned it after determining that the ball never broke the plane or touched the pylon. It was actually Woodhead’s leg, not the ball, that touched the pylon and knocked it over.
Below is another freeze frame:
The Chargers still had a 1st-and-goal at the 1 after the call was overturned, but they were unable to punch it in and settled for a tying field goal to send the game to overtime. Washington scored a touchdown on a 78-yard drive to open up overtime and win the game.
There really isn’t much for the Chargers to object to with the call. Their only complaints should be about the playcalling after the touchdown was overturned. How predictable was that “let’s spread em out and give an inside handoff to Woodhead” on first down? Everyone saw that coming.
