WASHINGTON — The Redskins lost by 28 points to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but a lot of focus went to one play in the second quarter.

In the second quarter, with the game tied at 14, Redskins cornerback hit Panthers tight end Greg Olsen as a pass came in, then Culliver caught the deflection and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown.

Culliver was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play, with the officiating crew claiming he launched with his arms toward Olsen’s head.

Mike Pereira, the former vice president of officiating for the NFL, told Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier Monday morning the call was correct, but he wishes it hadn’t been made.

“I think by the letter of the law, the letter of the rule, they’ll probably defend it,” Pereira said of the NFL and its officials. “I think if you went back and looked at it as an official and you looked at the severity of the contact, the fact that the head was to the side, I think if I was still leading the program, the officiating program — which, by the way, I am very glad I’m not — if I was, I would say ‘Geez, we could have gone without that call.’ And nobody would have said anything.”

“If they go by the letter of the law, I think they’ll defend it. But if I had been the one sitting in the chair, I would have wished it wouldn’t have been made.”

According to Pereira, the rule is defenders can’t hit a defenseless receiver in the head or neck area with their helmet, shoulder or forearm, and “there is zero liability on the receiver.” He added, even though a receiver might adjust his body and in the process put himself in harm’s way, the defender is still at fault, by rule.

Pereira says the rule, which “doesn’t take into account reaction time,” makes it nearly impossible for defenders to adjust to what happens in a split-second’s time, especially when he has to react to what the receiver is doing.

“[The receiver is] defenseless until he gets control, two feet down and then he has that period of time until he clearly becomes a runner,” Pereira says. “He’s considered defenseless that whole time. So he could have control and two feet down and still be defenseless and still take that shot, and have it be a foul. It’s just a rule that’s really slanted so far to protect the receiver that is deemed to be vulnerable. But it just makes it really tough to play defense. I get it, I understand how frustrated the defenders are, it’s just really difficult right now.”

Pereira mentioned multiple players coming up to him after the call was made, including former receiver Randy Moss and former Redskins cornerback Champ Bailey, claiming the call was wrong.

“You know that it’s really not a popular rule even with players,” he said. “If I was going to play, I certainly wouldn’t want to play defense anymore.”

Due to the league’s growing concern about player safety, Pereira says he does not expect the rules to change to give defenders more leniency. Once the league makes a rule to make the game safer for players, it’s rare for it to go back and lower the standards of it.

Still, Pereira says calls such as the one in question need to be made on more of a case-by-case basis.

“I think I would like to see some common sense factored in, looking at the severity of the contact and watching more focus on the head. It’s so hard to play defense, that if you at least get that head to the side, make the effort to get that head to the side, then give the defender a break and not make that kind of call. Unless it’s a clear launch and leave your feet, which, as I recall, it wasn’t in Culliver’s situation yesterday.”

Pereira also ripped referee Jerome Boger and his officiating crew, but he laughed off the idea that they could be biased against the Redskins because of their team name, as defensive end Jason Hatcher suggested after the game, sarcastically quipping “that’s a logical conclusion.”

“I think everybody agrees they seemed to struggle a little bit,” Pereira said of Boger and his crew. “Part of that is a reflection on Jerome, who just doesn’t seem to show a lot of confidence as a referee. … I thought that although the penalty totals were fairly similar between the two teams, I thought the big calls and the critical calls went more against the Redskins than [they] did against Carolina.”

You can listen to the entire interview below.

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