The Philadelphia Eagles lost their undefeated record on Monday Night Football against the Washington Commanders, 32-21. The game ended with that score because the Eagles had a last-ditch effort that ended with Casey Toohill of the Commanders recovering a fumble in the end zone after some lateral attempts.

There has been a lot of focus on the refereeing in this game, which is never a good thing. The only time referees are talked about is when they mess something up and there are a lot of Eagles fans that have strong opinions about the job that the crew did on Monday night.

A missed facemask on tight end Dallas Goedert resulted in not only a fumble but Goedert injuring his shoulder with an ailment that is expected to keep him out for a few weeks. The play in which a lot of people are focusing was during Washington’s final drive of the game.

On third down with a chance to get the ball back with under two minutes left in the game, the Eagles pressured Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke. Heinicke scrambled around a little bit before seemingly giving himself up in the backfield. But, after going to a knee, he was hit by two Eagles defenders, drawing a roughing the passer call and effectively ending the game.

The player who was flagged was defensive end, Brandon Graham. It was deemed that Graham not only hit Heinicke late but that it came in the head and neck area, which is an automatic penalty in today’s game. Graham believed Heinicke was getting up, but ultimately took responsibility for what occurred.

“We can’t put the game in the refs’ hands,” Graham said, via a transcript from the team. “In that position, I just have to know if he goes down, it’s okay. For me, I was just hustling to the play trying to make sure he was down and just trying to get off the field.”

While fans believe that is what ultimately cost the Eagles the game, that is just not the case. Philadelphia played an uncharacteristic game compared to what we have seen from them throughout the 2022 season.

Four turnovers by the offense certainly didn’t help and they struggled to get stops against the Commanders when they needed them most. The performance of the referee crew certainly didn’t help, but the officials are not why the Eagles were unable to come out on top Monday night.