1. A missed call in the trenches
With the Giants down 28-13 in the fourth quarter, they put together a solid drive, but it was derailed by one call. On 2nd-and-10, Micah Parsons sacked Jones, setting up 3rd-and-20. However, Andrew Thomas clearly started early and it should have been called for a false start. Yes, this would have been a right penalty on NY, but the refs weren’t competent enough to call it.
NFL Defensive Player of the Year pic.twitter.com/ZO8OjhAU37
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 25, 2022
If the refs correctly called this flag, it would have been 2nd-and-15 instead of 3rd-and-20. The clock also would’ve stopped, saving 40 seconds. The Giants drive was derailed in Dallas territory due to a play that should have never been allowed, taking away Big Blue’s chance to cut it to a one-score game. The Giants still had two timeouts, so if they had scored, they would have had a chance to get the ball back and tie the meeting.
This call wasn’t as egregious as the others, and generally I wouldn’t complain about the refs, but when you have this many game-altering calls, it has to be discussed. On the day, Parsons finished with two sacks and celebrated by trolling Thomas on Twitter. That second sack, though, should have never happened.