The Washington Commanders defeated the New Orleans Saints 20-19 on Sunday afternoon after a two-point conversion attempt by New Orleans was no good at the buzzer.
It probably never should have even come to that, though.
I've never seen anything like this before. Check this out in the Saints and Commanders game.
— Nick Newman (@NinerNick_22) December 15, 2024
The game clock mysteriously pauses for FOUR SECONDS with 9 seconds left in the game, even though the Saints couldn't stop the clock.
Time should've expired. pic.twitter.com/lTvxhEFkEa
With about 15 seconds remaining and no timeouts, the Saints got down to the one-yard line on a catch by Foster Moreau. Spencer Rattler was able to spike the ball with three seconds left to give New Orleans one last shot at the end zone, which was converted once again by Moreau prior to the two-point try.
However, the clock inexplicably stopped for four seconds after the first Moreau catch. That should have been the final play of the game, and lead official Shawn Hochuli later acknowledged as such.
Hochuli claims the clock was mistakenly stopped, and that the situation was unreviewable. If the Saints' two-point attempt had been good, it would have cost Washington the win -- and perhaps more, given the Commanders' thin margin for error in securing a playoff spot.
Thankfully for Washington and for the officials looking to avoid a major controversy, the Commanders (9-5) won anyway and disaster was averted. Still, mistakes such as this one cannot be made in these scenarios, and it goes to show that the line between wins and losses isn't always decided by just the two teams playing the game.
