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USATSI

The Commanders took a third-quarter lead in Sunday's game against the Vikings, and they did it in dramatic fashion. Down 7-3 early in the second half, Taylor Heinicke unloaded a bomb to Curtis Samuel, with Minnesota's Camryn Bynum, Harrison Smith and Patrick Peterson blanketing the wide receiver in triple coverage. Just before the pass reached Samuel, however, an official accidentally ran into Bynum, sending the safety to the grass and allowing Samuel to score an untouched 49-yard touchdown.

It's unclear why the back judge was that far downfield at the time of contact, but his collision with Bynum appeared to rob Minnesota of a potential deflection or interception on Heinicke's heave. Officials did review the TD afterward, but only to confirm that Samuel had gone untouched into the end zone after falling to the ground short of the goal line with the ball. Replay showed that both Smith and Peterson failed to make any contact with Samuel after the receiver came down with the catch, giving Washington a stunning 10-7 lead that it carried deep into the second half.

Rules dictate that officials are part of the field of play while the ball is live, so Samuel's seemingly fluke TD could not be reversed.