On Sunday, referee Carl Cheffers provided an official explanation of the play in which an inadvertent whistle was blown while Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams was running 30 yards to the end zone.
On Monday, the league basically said that Cheffers was wrong.
Per Cheffers, the officiating crew decided that Williams already was in the end zone when the whistle was inadvertently blown by an official who believed Williams had stepped out of bounds at the Redskins’ 17 yard line. Per the league (via Mark Maske of the Washington Post), the Panthers should have been given two options due to the inadvertent whistle.
“By rule, Carolina should have been given a choice of putting the ball in play where Williams was ruled to have stepped out of bounds -- 1st-and-10 from the Washington 17 yard-line -- or replaying the down -- 1st-and-10 from the Washington 30,” the league said in a written statement.
So, basically, the line judge got it wrong. And Cheffers got it wrong when trying to explain the the crew didn’t get it wrong.
The league deserves credit for admitting the error.