Giants express frustration over officiating after controversial Eagles play sparks outrage in Week 8
The New York Giants were frustrated by the Eagles success with the Tush Push
The New York Giants were trounced 38-20 in Week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Giants struggled defensively, they lost significant momentum after a controversial officiating call on the Eagles’ infamous tush push.
During the play at the beginning of the second quarter, Kayvon Thibodeaux stripped the ball from Jalen Hurts. The Giants were not awarded the ball because of Hurts’s inexplicable forward progress.
Justifiably, members of the Giants’ defense were extremely frustrated.
“That’s some [expletive], man,” Thibodeaux told reporters after the loss.
Giants fuel ‘Tush Push’ debate
Thibodeaux and fellow defensive star Brian Burns spoke out on the play while attempting to toe the line of criticizing the officials. Thibodeaux explained why he’s not satisfied with how the rule is handled.
“When it comes to that play and what happened, I feel like the refs got kind of a hard job because they don’t know when to stop it,” Thibodeaux stated. “I think it’s tough on defense obviously, because it’s like you stop the first surge, the ref don’t blow the whistle. You get the ball out and you take it, now all of a sudden it’s forward progress. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to keep playing.”
Thibodeaux raises a critical issue with the play: There is no consistency in how the officials handle it. In some instances, the Eagles are allowed ample time to convert and keep pushing, but in this instance, the Giants knocked the ball away, and the play was blown dead. Burns had a similar sentiment.
“I ain’t going to get fined, but the refs made their call. It is tricky,” Burns told the media, “Two weeks ago, they allowed them to push the pile, and now we stopped the surge, and they blow the whistle quickly. [Thibodeaux] had a heads-up play by getting the ball out. I really felt like that should have been a turnover. I don’t know. It’s just weird. It’s a weird play, weird call.”
The Giants surrendered 427 total yards of offense and 38 points to Philadelphia, so this singular play likely did not completely shift the game. However, the entire Giants defense and coaching staff have a right to be frustrated. It felt as though after that series, the whole Giants team was deflated.
New York can’t linger on this issue after the loss, with a Week 9 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers coming up.
New York Giants News
Giants rookie Jaxson Dart continues to face insurmountable challenges without support in Week 8 loss to Eagles
The New York Giants did nothing to help rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart in their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles
