Sunday Night Football always comes with drama, but what happened in Broncos vs. Commanders? That wasn’t drama — that was pure entertainment chaos. Denver escaped with an overtime win, but the final two minutes had the NBC crew staring at each other like they were hosting a “What on earth was THAT call?” special.
The game went to OT thanks to Jake Moody’s field goal as time expired. But before that kick, two straight penalties crushed Washington’s final drive — and this is where the NBC broadcast team’s “referee inspection mode” activated.
First up: Terry McLaurin gets flagged for a false start on first down. NBC shows the replay, and instantly Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth look like they’ve just seen a UFO.
Tirico: “Is he not set for a second?”
Collinsworth: “That’s not a foul.”
Translation? Even THEY don’t know what the refs were thinking.
Then comes the comedy sequel — an intentional grounding call on Marcus Mariota. And THAT is when rules analyst Terry McAulay had absolutely had enough.
He dropped this on air:
“This is absolutely not (intentional) grounding, guys.”
And earlier, Collinsworth pointed out what Washington actually had on the play that could’ve won them the game:
Cris Collinsworth: "They had a walk-in touchdown… They had the play called perfectly… If Mariota had it to do over again, he could have thrown it about as high as he wanted to. Because there was nobody there."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 1, 2025
The Broncos hold off the Commanders in OT. 🏈🎙️ #NFL #SNF pic.twitter.com/KqWDUEwIBL
Meaning? Without the questionable calls, Washington might have been celebrating a game-winning touchdown instead of scrambling for an OT field goal.
McAulay didn’t back down either. He broke down the replay and doubled down:
The NBC SNF crew disagreed with consecutive penalties against the Commanders on the final drive of regulation vs the Broncos.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 1, 2025
Rules analyst Terry McAulay: "This is absolutely not (intentional) grounding, guys." 🏈🦓🎙️ #NFL #SNF pic.twitter.com/lRzZhfqEGG
So instead of a clean late-game drive, Washington got stuck with a second-and-25 hole dug by the officiating crew. And from there, overtime felt like their only lifeline.
Yes, the Commanders still got a chance in OT. But those two penalties changed everything — and maybe even changed the result.
Final takeaway? Players make mistakes and land on highlight reels. Refs make mistakes and end up trending nationwide. And tonight, NBC basically said what every fan was screaming: those calls were wildly questionable.
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