Early on in the NFC Wild Card matchup between the NY Giants and Minnesota Vikings, we’ve already got some controversy on a touchdown pass from Daniel Jones to Isaiah Hodgins – and the Vikings faithful are not happy at all.
On the play, with the NY Giants offense humming, quarterback Daniel Jones tossed a rope to Isaiah Hodgins for a score. Just like that, it was 14-7 G-Men and thousands of fans inside of U.S. Bank Stadium were left stunned. However, it looks like the refs may have missed left tackle Andrew Thomas taking off a touch early. Take a look for yourself:
GIANTS LEAD.
— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) January 15, 2023
Big RAC from Slayton set up great field position for the Giants. Let’s get another stop. pic.twitter.com/59Yt9HqJea
NY Giants LT Andrew Thomas may have gotten away with a false start on a TD
As you can see in the clip, it sure looks like Thomas did indeed get off the line early, which caused for Za’Darius Smith to pause a little bit. With that said, Smith knows better than to not play until the whistle sounds. He eased off a little bit and it opened the door for Jones to hit Hodgins in stride for six. Vikings fans are furious on Twitter after seeing the replay once or twice.
NFL rigging against Vikings. Andrew Thomas missed false start call leads to a TD. Missed hold leads to a Barkley TD. Make it less obvious if ur gonna rig it @nfl
— Nick P (@morataistrash) January 15, 2023
Man, NFL refs really blow. Andrew Thomas definitely moved early on that TD pass.
— george b #D4L (@gbdawg55) January 15, 2023
Clear false start by Andrew Thomas
— Cole Linscheid (@LinscheidCole) January 15, 2023
that was a terrible missed false start on Andrew Thomas
— vasili dallas (@vasilionaire) January 15, 2023
Andrew Thomas started that back pedal yesterday
— henry (@henrysniffles) January 15, 2023
We just love spotting teams 2-3 tds so we can come back in dramatic fashion but this was alarmingly early to give away 2 easy ones
— Nick (@DJsixseven) January 15, 2023
While Thomas may have gotten away with one, that doesn’t take away from the tremendous play of the Giants offense in the first half. Mike Kafka has really opened things up and Jones in particular looked sharp not only throwing the ball, but running it as well. The Vikings had no answer for him early on.
Win or lose, Vikings fans are going to be blasting the refs for the missed call on Thomas. As for the NY supporters, they’re having plenty of fun with things on social media themselves. If you ask them, there was nothing to see on that play and Thomas got off the line at the right time. We’ll let you be the judge of that.
4 keys to victory for the NY Giants in the Wild Card Round vs. Vikings
With the NY Giants set to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, look for Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence and others to step up.