Terry McAulay calls out Commanders vs. Eagles refs over picking up facemask flag late on TNF

The officials in the Commanders-Eagles game on Thursday Night Football on Amazon prime have been taking some serious heat. And they tossed some more fuel to the fire late in the third quarter, when an official threw a flag for a face mask, the crew then got together and reviewed it and decided to pick up the flag.

Following the sequence of events, rules analyst Terry McAulay disagreed with the crew.

Refs threw a flag for a face mask, got together and then picked up the flag??? Rules analyst Terry disagrees with the no call #WASvsPHI pic.twitter.com/I7NBg5QlYn

— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) November 15, 2024

“Yeah, as Kirk said, he gets the helmet opening. But that’s just like the facemask anyway. Yeah, that’s the helmet opening. They should have left the flag down,” McAulay explained.

The Eagles defeated the Commanders 26-18. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley once again carried them, finishing with 26 carries for 146 rushing yards and two touchdowns. According to OptaStats, Barkley is the first player in NFL history to have two 20-plus yard rushing touchdowns in a span of 20 seconds or less in the fourth quarter of a game.

Eagles rookie corner Quinyon Mitchell locked up Commanders wideout Terry McLaurin.

Mitchell was lined up across from McLaurin on 20 of 25 routes (80%), including 19 of 20 lined up wide (95%). He was not targeted on any of his coverage snaps against McLaurin and was targeted just once all night (0 catches allowed), according to Next Gen Stats. Darius Butler of the Pat McAfee Show was touting Mitchell as the favorite for defensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL.

Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter was highly disruptive. He was virtually unblockable for much of the game and was constantly in the Commanders’ backfield. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels finished with over 200 all-purpose yards, with one touchdown pass and one interception.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 at home. The Washington Commanders dropped to 7-4 overall and 3-3 on the road.