Giants ‘got jobbed’ on referees’ Darren Waller no-call on final play of heartbreaking loss to Bills
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The Giants might have deserved another chance to get that yard.
The Giants’ 14-9 loss to the Bills ended on an incomplete pass to Darren Waller, but replays clearly showed Bills cornerback Taron Johnson grabbing the tight end’s jersey as he jumped to make the improbable catch.
After the game, NBC rules official Terry McAulay explained what the official had to weigh while making the decision.
“It certainly wouldn’t be holding the ball is in flight. Had the ball not been in flight that jersey pull is an automatic foul,” McAulay said. “Once the ball is in flight, now it changes what that pull means. It has to significantly hinder the receiver. One can argue, it did. One could argue, it didn’t.”
NBC analyst and former Bengals receiver Cris Collinsoworth had a more definitive take on it.
“The jersey tug starts two yards into the end zone and now as he tries to put up the second hand to make the catch, the continued hold is basically keeping that left hand from going in the air,” Collinsworth responded. “I know that is a subtle thing that is very difficult but there is no question in my mind that it impacted his ability to try and make that catch.”
McAulay conceded that “I think it does as well.”
Many on social media agreed.
The refs, though, swallowed their whistle and the game ended with the Giants one yard short of an improbable upset of the Bills.
It came one play after Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard was called for pass interference against Waller that moved the Giants from the Bills’ nine-yard line down to the one-yardline.
“OBVIOUS INTERFERENCE ON THE LOB TO WALLER BY JOHNSON — GRABBING HIS JERSEY!!! HANDS ALL OVER HIM ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE PLAY!!! The first glaring interference, the play before, got called. That one should’ve been, too,” Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless wrote.
“Then maybe quick QB sneak from the half yard line.OBVIOUS INTERFERENCE ON THE LOB TO WALLER BY JOHNSON — GRABBING HIS JERSEY!!! HANDS ALL OVER HIM ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE PLAY!!! The first glaring interference, the play before, got called. That one should’ve been, too. Then maybe quick QB sneak from the half yard line.”
“All you can ask for is a chance to make a play like that for your team,” said Waller, who finished the game with five catches for 43 yards.
“It’s disappointing it didn’t happen the way I wanted and the team would have wanted.”
It was not the Giants’ only disappointment in the game near the end zone.
The first half ended when the Giants tried running the ball into the end zone from the one-yard line with 14 seconds left.
Saquon Barkley was stopped short and the Giants — without any timeouts — did not have time to snap the ball again as time expired.
It’s impossible to say how the game unfolded if the Giants had gotten a field goal there — pushing a 6-0 lead to 9-0 — but, theoretically, three extra points would have meant they would have only needed a field goal at the end of the game to win.
The 1-5 Giants take on the 3-3 Commanders next week, trying to build off this spirited effort.
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