The Washington Redskins were forced to deal with a critical officiating mistake late in their loss Sunday night against the New York Giants that left head coach Mike Shanahan believing they had converted a first down when head referee Jeff Triplette said otherwise.
It left the Redskins facing a fourth-and-one instead of a second-and-10 after a pass play that Shanahan likely wouldn’t have called if he was informed of the correct down and distance for the prior play.
It’s been just one of several clear officiating gaffes this season. While officials aren’t perfect and mistakes will be made, Redskins’ receiver Santana Moss feels like the level of officiating has reached a new low.
“It’s probably been worse this whole year as a total, not just this team. But I’ve watched a lot of football this year. It’s been the worst that I’ve ever seen,” Moss said, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post.
Moss is in his 13th season in the NFL. He complained about inconsistencies between crews in rulings, specifically on what is and isn’t a catch. He hopes the league takes a closer look at the rules this offseason in an attempt to eliminate the variance in the rulings between officiating crews.
“I understand [there are] so many things being changed,” Moss said. “But at the end of the day, some of that stuff is crap. So hopefully somebody who’s in a higher position that can really watch this season alone and see some of the stuff that’s being called and hasn’t been called, they can go and try to critique that because it’s been the worst by far since I’ve been in the league.”