Luvu’s goal-line penalties a matter of ‘timing’

PHILADELPHIA — Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu was determined to stop the tush push. The officials just wanted him to wait for the snap of the ball to do so.

In Washington’s 55-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, Luvu had a moment that officials deemed unnecessary — and teammates called symbolic of their overall mindset.

Luvu was flagged for diving over the line of scrimmage while the Eagles lined up in their tush push formation at the 2-yard line. And then he was flagged again for doing the same thing — prompting referee Shawn Hochuli to announce, “Washington has been advised that at some point the referee can award a score if this type of behavior happens again.”

According to the NFL rule book, Hochuli can do just that. The rule states that a player “shall not interfere with play by any act which is palpably unfair.” The rule says that an offender could be disqualified and may award a score.

“Simply put, a team can’t commit multiple fouls in an effort to prevent the score,” Hochuli told a pool reporter after the game. “If it’s meant to prevent a score we can essentially award the score.”

Both times Luvu dove supine over the pile and landed on the top of the Eagles’ linemen as well as quarterback Jalen Hurts. But, for Luvu, all that mattered was his team trailed 34-23 with 12 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game and needed a stop.

The Eagles were aligned in their tight formation with tight end Dallas Goedert and running back Saquon Barkley lined up directly behind quarterback Jalen Hurts.

“I was just timing the jump over,” Luvu said. “They’ve been doing a lot in short yardage and I was going to take my shot. That’s the mindset I came in with. Take my shot; if I make it I make it if not I bounce back. The third time they told me I get a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. I didn’t know what that was about. I guess they wanted them to score. So I stopped from there and that’s how it played out.”

Linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke to the officials to let them know that wasn’t the only penalty on the play.

“I was trying to inform them they were lined up offsides,” Wagner said. “I didn’t know they could just award a touchdown.”

After Luvu was flagged twice, defensive lineman Jon Allen jumped early when Hurts used a hard count. That moved the ball even closer to the goal line and then on the next play Hurts scored.

“On that play as a defense that showed a little bit of the fight,” defensive end Clelin Ferrell said. “We don’t care in that moment. We’re going to play with our hair on fire to the end. That’s what you look for, that tells the character of your team. One yard line and guys are still fighting.”

That fight helped define the Commanders this season, one in which they weren’t predicted to be a factor in the NFC. Yet they won 12 games in coach Dan Quinn’s first season and with a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels.

But, Sunday, they could not overcome four turnovers that led to 28 points by Philadelphia. Washington had been plus-6 in the turnover margin in the first two postseason games; the Commanders were minus-4 Sunday.

The last turnover occurred with Washington at its own 49-yard line early in the fourth quarter down 11. That led to the tush push sequence and the Commanders never threatened again.

Perhaps the toughest one took place late in the first half when Jeremy McNichols fumbled a kickoff after an Eagles’ touchdown. Philadelphia capitalized with another touchdown and took a 27-15 halftime lead.

“They thrive off turnovers and we didn’t take care of it good enough,” Washington receiver Terry McLaurin said. “Credit to them. It’s hard to win games when you turn the ball over.”

The Commanders, notably Quinn and Wagner, were not yet in a reflective mood on the season. Quinn had been adamant all season about not looking ahead and that included any thoughts yet on what this season meant.

“Too early for me,” he said. “What I can say is no locker room is the same year to year and I wanted to make sure they spent that time together because they’ve created something that’s very cool here. It’s going to pay off for years to come.””

Washington’s story is well-known by this point: The Commanders were 4-13 a year ago but hired general manager Adam Peters and Quinn and drafted quarterback Jayden Daniels. Each of those moves helped pave the way for a remarkable turnaround. They finished the regular season 12-5 — the organization’s most wins since 1991. That’s also the same season in which they last played in the championship game.

There were long embraces by players; safety Jeremy Chinn sat at his locker and wiped away tears. It was a season they didn’t want to end. Tight end Zach Ertz, who was playing in his third championship game in 12 seasons, said he knows how hard it is to reach this point. His one regret: the timing of his career and Daniels.

“Playing with Jayden, I wish I was 22 and playing with him and had my whole career ahead of me with him,” Ertz said.

Meanwhile, Daniels was upset over his first playoff loss.

“It sucks man, it just sucks,” said Daniels, the favorite to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. “We all meshed. We lost, it sucks but we’ll move on from this.

“I don’t want to have a feeling like this again.”