The New Orleans Saints nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, but they may have had some extra help in their bid.
The Saints fell to the Commanders 20-19 in Sunday’s game at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. They scored a touchdown as time expired, but attempted a two-point conversion to try to win the game, which failed.
Before the touchdown, however, some observers noticed something suspicious about the clock. The Saints completed a pass to get to the 1-yard line in the final 11 seconds, but had no timeouts left and had to get downfield to spike the ball. The FOX broadcast graphic showed that the game clock paused at nine seconds and held there for roughly four seconds, even though there was no reason for the clock to stop at that point.
Saints QB Spencer Rattler wound up spiking the ball with three seconds left, which set up the touchdown pass to Foster Moreau.
Egregious mistake here pic.twitter.com/zqQe4KNp6Q
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) December 15, 2024
There was no clear explanation for the stoppage, and it is certainly possible time would have run out on the Saints without it. The stoppage appeared to be the fault of side judge Jim Quirk, who was motioning for the clock to be stopped despite there being no clear reason for it.
You can see the side judge running in with his arms waiving to stop the clock… I'm not sure why.
Justice served with the Saints missing the two pointer, but this would have been an interesting conversation had the Saints won. https://t.co/2wYsFEuQlA
— Justin Van Zuiden (@stlcardinals84) December 15, 2024
Ultimately, the Saints failed to score on the two-point conversion, so this did not cost the Commanders the game. The NFL will likely still face some questions about it, as this very easily could have been a game-changing error.
