Ron Rivera saw what everyone else saw. 

The Commanders head coach was incensed following the team’s 20-12 loss to the Giants at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., Sunday night over the officiating during a key late-game sequence. 

Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes likely got away with pass interference on the team’s decisive fourth-down stop to seal the victory. 

Trailing by the eventual final score, the Commanders had the ball on the Giants’ 6-yard line as quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw a pass intended for Curtis Samuel in the end zone. Holmes broke up the pass to seal the turnover on downs and the Giants’ win, but he appeared to drape his arms around Samuel as he made a play on the ball. As Heinicke sat in the pocket scanning the field, Holmes could be seen tugging and pulling at Samuel as well. 

“It’s clearly a foul,” ex-referee and current NBC rules analyst Terry McCauley said on the postgame show of the missed pass interference. “He grabs his arm, he plays through the back, it’s clearly before the ball gets there. This is defensive pass interference and it really should be called whether it’s the end of the game, beginning of the game, it doesn’t matter.” 

Prior to the controversial no-call, the Commanders — after a 43-yard kickoff return — drove all the way down to the Giants’ 10-yard line with a chance to tie the game. On first-and-goal, Heinicke threw an incomplete pass. On second-and-goal, he scrambled for 9 yards to the Giants’ 1-yard line, where Kayvon Thibodeaux met him to make a game-saving tackle. 

That’s when Brian Robinson appeared to score with a 1-yard rush on third down, but Washington was flagged for an illegal formation on the play. The referees ruled that receiver Terry McLaurin was not properly lined up on the line of scrimmage, nullifying the score. 

When asked what he thought about the illegal formation flag, Rivera asked reporters what they saw “on the film.” When a reporter began to respond that it looked like McLaurin had motioned to the referee about his alignment before the play, Rivera interjected. 

“That’s exactly what I thought, too,” a livid Rivera said. “Thank you.” 

Rivera was subsequently asked about the no-call on fourth down. 

“Don’t ask me about the refereeing,” Rivera responded. “Because I can’t answer the question.” 

Following the non-penalized fourth down, the Giants took a knee to end the game. 

“No, that’s just too technical,” McCauley responded when asked about the illegal formation flag. “We watched the wide receivers, they’re within the vicinity. Technically, he’s off the line, but it’s just too technical, really at any time of the game, especially without warning, he shouldn’t have been called.”