The referees grabbed the flag and waved off the penalty, signaling a Cowboys touchdown.
At least that penalty wasn't called against the wrong team.
Because that was also the case.
The Giants were the victims of two bizarre officiations in the first half of Thursday's 20-15 loss to the Cowboys.
First, tight end Daniel Bellinger was given a face mask penalty, which changed what would have been a third-and-three to second-and-18.
Replays showed that when Bellinger and Demarvion Overshawn tangled and Bellinger blocked Daniel Jones from running the bases, it was Overshawn who grabbed the face mask-filled fist, not the other way around. It was done.
“I looked at the video and it looked like he grabbed my face mask,” an exasperated Bellinger said in the locker room after the game. “I asked, but they didn't tell me anything.”
With head coach Brian Daboll questioning Bellinger on the sideline, the Giants converted a field goal on that drive after Daniel Jones recovered most of the yards on two consecutive passes to Wan'Dale Robinson.
“I thought it was a good block and then they threw a flag. I don't know what it was,” Bellinger said. “I come to the sideline and Daveth asks me what happened. I said, 'Coach, I honestly don't know what to say.' They had to get that call right. ”
The real head-scratcher came on the ensuing drive, when the flag flew when the Cowboys set up a screen pass to Rico Doodle, who weaved through the defense for a 15-yard touchdown.
The crowd and many players seemed to think Dowdle would soften the celebration in the end zone and the play would come back.
Mr. Daboll was expecting a hold call.
Officials thought they had spotted an illegal alien downfield, but they huddled together to stop them.
That excited Daboll on the sidelines.
“I thought it was a different phone than theirs,” Daboll said later.
This play certainly confused the Giants.
“I think that moment was just collective confusion,” linebacker Bobby Okereke said. “But obviously we've got to tackle better defensively. We've got to take away the explosive plays. That's been our Achilles heel — tackling and explosive plays.”
The Cowboys were flagged for 11 penalties resulting in 89 yards, while the Giants were 4-of-35.
But that doesn't make it any easier to accept the penalty, which was not applied and resulted in an 8% additional winning percentage in the Cowboys' favor by touchdown, according to ESPN.
“You can't blame the referees,” Kayvon Thibodeau said.
