Frankie Luvu’s goal-line ‘timing’ led to Commanders’ flags
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 officials 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 over the pile and landed on 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 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.”