The Eagles seemed to get away with holding at a pivotal moment in the first half of Sunday’s 55-23 NFC Championship win over the Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia was down to fourth-and-5 with a little more than two minutes left to play in the opening half, when Jalen Hurts found AJ Brown for a 31-yard pass that kept the drive alive and eventually led to an Eagles touchdown.
But the big play was one that should have been penalized due to a Saquon Barkley holding infraction that was missed by the refs, according to Fox NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira.
“I think [Saquon Barkley] gets away with a little bit of a hook,” analyst Tom Brady said on the broadcast before asking Pereira for his opinion.
“I don’t think there’s anything to think about. That was clearly a hold and should’ve been called,” Pereira responded, prompting play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt to sound shocked at what had happened.
The non-call certainly had an impact with the Eagles extending their lead to 20-12 at the time and added onto it again later after the Commanders fumbled setting up another Philly touchdown.
The Commanders had gone into halftime down 27-15, but they did manage to cut into the deficit with a late third quarter touchdown that made it a 34-23 game.
Barkley had two of his three touchdowns in the first half, including a 60-yard score on Philly’s first offensive play of the game.
