After fumbling away their extraordinary turnover luck during an undefeated run, the Eagles still had a chance to get the ball back with more than 90 seconds remaining.
Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham, however, was flagged for hitting Taylor Heinicke late after the quarterback had given himself up and kneeled after his reads weren’t immediately available.
Graham said Monday that he thought Heinicke was trying to keep the play alive after the game.
During an official transcript, the veteran defensive end said, “I was just trying to touch him down, because it looked like he was going to get up.” “You just never know. But I own that one,” he said.
Washington converted the 15-yard penalty into six free points with zeros on the clock in the 32-21 victory by milking the clock inside 10 seconds.
After the game, pool reporter Zach Berman observed that Graham clearly hit Heinicke late.
The quarterback had clearly given himself up, Kemp said. As a result, he is down and defenseless. No. 55 made contact late and to the head and neck.”
It is another matter whether you believe Kemp should have swallowed his whistle on a hit that wasn’t that egregious. By the letter of the rule, Graham’s hit certainly came after Heinicke kneeled.
“We can’t put the game in the referee’s hands,” Graham said. “In that position, I just have to know if he goes down, it’s fine. For me, I was just hustling to the play making sure he was down and getting off.”
Having served for 13 years, Graham should have known better. Whether he was racing teammate Hassan Reddick to get credit for the sack, pulled a White Goodman on a night when he barely sniffed the QB (one total pressure), it was an error that ended the Eagles’ chances of a comeback bid to keep the undefeated season alive.
Nick Sirianni, Eagles head coach, noted that the call wasn’t what cost the team a 9-0 record.
We lost the game together: offense, defense, special teams, we lost it together. That’s what lost us the game.” “We lost it together: offense, defense, special teams, we lost it as a team.”
No, if the penalty were the reason Philly lost, it would be much easier to swallow. Instead, the defense got run over, and the offense bumbled its chances. The boneheaded play by Graham, however, did wipe away our chance as viewers to see one more pressure-packed drive with the game on the line. That was a bummer.