The Washington Football Team lost 24-10 to the Packers on Sunday, but the outcome might have been different had quarterback Taylor Heinicke been able to get into the end zone on two runs in the third quarter.
Heinicke was ruled in the end zone at the end of a three-yard run, but a replay review led to him being ruled down on the one-yard-line. Officials ruled that he gave himself up by diving forward and Heinicke was ruled short on a fourth down try on the next play. Washington challenged that call, but it was upheld.
After the game, Heinicke disputed the ruling that he was giving himself up while stopping short of further criticism.
“I don’t want to get into specifics, but I feel like I was in there both times. I don’t want to get fined up here, but I feel like I was in there both times,” Heinicke said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.
A 2018 rule change led to head-first dives being treated the same as slides by quarterbacks. Washington head coach Ron Rivera said after the game that Heinicke wishes he had that one back and that “the interpretation [the officials] gave me was they couldn’t tell whether he was down or not” on the fourth down play.
