As the Saints were driving at the end of Sunday’s game against the Commanders, it looked like the clock had stopped with nine seconds left in the game when it shouldn’t have.

It did.

Referee Shawn Hochuli admitted during a postgame pool report that one of the team’s officials accidentally stopped the clock after a throw from quarterback Spencer Rattler to tight end Foster Moreau moved the ball from the Washington Seven to the Washington One.

“The clock shouldn’t have stoppedsaid Hochuli.

It is unclear why the error was made.

The stoppage, which we estimate lasted 2.7 seconds, gave the Saints time to line up and run the clock. That gave them enough time to throw a touchdown pass that brought the game within one point and set the stage for a win-or-lose two-point try. (The Saints could not convert.)

Hochuli added that the error was not verifiable. And he’s right. According to the rulebook, the retest can be used to put time on the clock, but cannot be used to remove time from the clock.

The league was lucky that overtime didn’t result in the Saints winning the game. If they had, it would have been a much bigger deal.

Even then, we do not know—and will not know—whether the Saints would have stopped the clock with the time remaining had the clock not been mistakenly stopped. According to a league source, the NFL doesn’t know the answer to that question either.