Joe Gibbs made the proper move, calling time just before the 51-yard kick, wiping out what would have been a game-winner. The crowd celebrated this apparent good fortune.
Then they sat stunned by what happened next.
Gibbs called a second consecutive timeout, thereby earning an automatic 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Ryan Lindell then booted a 36-yarder for the game-winning points.
Referee Tony Corrente told a pool reporter after the game that if the kicker is on the field and in position to kick the ball, then a second consecutive timeout is an automatic penalty. If the kicker is not on the field, officials would ignore an attempt to call a second straight timeout.
Gibbs said he asked the official before calling time if he was allowed to do so. He said the official told him he could. Then, Gibbs said, the official said, “When do you want to call it?” As the Bills got ready to snap it, Gibbs said, “right now.” Bills coaches immediately could be heard by those standing on the bench shouting for a penalty.
“It was just one of those things in the heat of the moment that certainly wasn’t registered and thought about,” Gibbs said. “I should have known and that is on me. I felt like …. It was OK for me to call it. I should know the rule. It was heated down there, things were going back and forth.”
Gibbs, who has been oft-criticized for late-game management this season, said he did not know the penalty for a second straight timeout in that situation was a 15-yard penalty.
Some players said they knew the rule; others said the loss didn’t stem from this play.
“I know coach Gibbs said that was on him, but it is really not on him,” Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell said. “There were a lot of plays that lost us the game. You count the two turnovers by me; I’m a big part of it, more than anybody probably.”
Said center Casey Rabach, “We shouldn’t have been in that situation.”
