The Saints nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback against the Commanders on Sunday, and New Orleans was aided by side judge Jim Quirk mistakenly stopping the clock in the final seconds. But Washington coach Dan Quinn declined to criticize after the game.
With the clock running and the Saints out of timeouts, Quirk signaled for the clock to be stopped with nine seconds left. It stopped for about three seconds before it started again, and the Saints then spiked the ball with three seconds left on the clock. On the next play, the Saints scored a touchdown to cut the Commanders’ lead to 20-19. The Saints then missed the two-point conversion and the Commanders won, but if the Saints had made the two-point conversion, the clock mistake would be a huge controversy.
Quinn said afterward that he didn’t want to talk about it.
“I am absolutely taking the high road,” Quinn said, via ESPN. “Those three seconds are critical, let’s just say that. We’re on to [next opponent] Philadelphia. . . . In the game, I was frustrated why [the clock had stopped], but in the moment, I don’t get to ask and you don’t get the feedback when it’s that type of intensity.”
So why did Quirk stop the clock? He hasn’t answered that question, but referee Shawn Hochuli told a pool reporter afterward that it was a mistake that shouldn’t have happened.
