Major officiating blunder costs Giants big play as wrong face mask call hurts early drive against Cowboys
New York Giants lose important yardage on Thursday Night Football after NFL officiating blunder penalizes them instead of the Dallas Cowboys.
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NFL officiating comes up with another blunder and penalizes New York Giants instead of Dallas Cowboys (Image via Imago/screengrab)
NFL’s Thursday Night Football is back for week 4 with the Dallas Cowboys taking on the New York Giants. A surefire tense battle as both teams want to shed their losing records. The Cowboys entered the game as favorites owing to their personnel and play in the previous game. But the Giants have very much a chance to upset them. The New Yorkers were trying to do that in the first quarter but were pegged back.
One might point to the score difference as the Cowboys scored a touchdown, but the Giants could only muster a field goal. But one has to take into effect an officiating blunder that seems to have impeded the Giants.
Early on in the first quarter, QB Daniel Jones ran for a first down. However, the referees called a penalty against tight end Daniel Bellinger. They adjudged it, suggesting that Bellinger grabbed the facemask of Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown.
However, replays showed that Bellinger’s hands went nowhere near Overshown’s helmet. In fact, it was the opposite, as it is evidently clear that the Cowboys LB is the one who grabbed the facemask of Daniel Bellinger. This NFL officiating goof up not only ended up costing the Giants a first down, but also pegged them back by 15 yards.
Refs throw a flag on Giants player Bellinger but on the replay it looks like he is the one who gets his facemask grabbed. #DALvsNYG pic.twitter.com/IVfGHRvdxe
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) September 27, 2024
Else they could have tried to take a shot at a touchdown. Instead, those additional penalty yards stopped them from being able to surpass the 1st down marker. At the end, they had to rely on placekicker Greg Joseph to make something out of it.
New York Giants hanging on against Cowboys despite referee mistake
As the game went on, it was evident that the Giants would have loved to score a touchdown on that drive. Instead, the immediate 4-point deficit has helped the Dallas Cowboys maintain their lead heading into half-time. They scored a touchdown on two of their offensive drives to hold a 14-9 score going into second half.
Those nine New York Giants points came off with three field goals. What is commendable so far is that the Giants have scored on every possession. They might have had trouble finishing those drives in the red zone, but at least they are placing themselves into points scoring positions.
If they can score a touchdown or two and hope their defense continues to play at the elite level they have so far, the Giants could end up with a famous upset win. Quite an improvement considering how badly they started their season.
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Joseph Varghese
(2486 Articles Published)