Commanders
Commanders HC Ron Rivera and QB Taylor Heinicke were searching for answers after they lost to the Giants in a controversial fashion. They were also searching for a pass interference call when WR Curtis Samuel was heavily covered by Giants CB Darnay Holmes, yet no flag was thrown by the referees.
“Well, what did you guys see?” Rivera said, via NFL.com. “That’s exactly what I thought too. In fact, don’t ask me about the referees because I can’t answer the question. It’s disappointing as heck. It really is. It pisses me off. We had an opportunity to win. I thought we did everything we were supposed to do, getting the ball down to the one-yard line and getting lined up. Checking to make sure we’re lined up properly and then having that taken away from us. That’s why it’s hard to comprehend like that.”
“Oh, yeah. I saw a picture, and the dude had his arms around his neck before he could catch the ball, so who knows.” Heinicke added.
An even more controversial call came on the previous play when the Commanders had a touchdown taken away by an illegal formation penalty on WR Terry McLaurin, who insists that he checked with the referee about his positioning twice before the snap.
“I feel like I was on the ball the entire time if you look through the game I lined up there pretty much every play, so I checked to see I was good the first time and he was like I can move up a little bit,” McLaurin said. “So when I moved up, I was good and he said I was good. I’m not trying to get fined. We had our other opportunities, but for it to come down like that, that’s tough.”
- Rivera on how close DE Chase Young was to playing against New York: “He was close. It’s one of these things that he’ll continue to work on. We’ll see how he’s doing. I know he saw Dr. Andrews today and it was all positive. We’re feeling really good and we’ll see how he does Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week.” (Ben Standig)
- When asked if he will play this season, Rivera replied: “Oh, yeah.”
- Rivera when asked if he would consider a quarterback change: “No. The biggest thing more than anything else is sticking with Taylor and what we’re trying to accomplish.” (Nicki Jhabvala)
- However, Rivera acknowledged it’s something he’ll have to think about if the offense continues to struggle. (JP Finlay)
Cowboys
- NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reports the MRI on Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch revealed a right shoulder stinger that is non-serious and not related to his previous neck issues.
- Rapoport adds Vander Esch may only miss a small amount of time.
- However, that will include this week, as Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy ruled him out for Week 16 against the Eagles. (Todd Archer)
Giants
Giants first-round OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux took over Sunday night’s game against the Commanders with a dominant performance in the win. He led New York with 12 total tackles, including three tackles for loss in the first half. Another one of those tackles kept Washington QB Taylor Heinicke out of the end zone by a yard. And his biggest play was a sack/forced/fumble/recovery/touchdown that gave the Giants a lead they’d never relinquish.
“It’s big when a rookie steps up in that moment in a big game,” Giants RB Saquon Barkley said via the Athletic’s Charlotte Carroll. “Just shows you his character, his leadership qualities and that’s big. Not only did he step up and talk about it, he was about it on the field.”
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