NFL referees don’t always get it right, but this face mask penalty called during Thursday night’s Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants game was beyond the pale.
Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger got called for an offensive face mask penalty on Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown early in the first quarter, which pushed New York back on Dallas’ side of the field.
What’s even less helpful is the fact that it sure looked like Overshown was the one who got his hands on Bellinger’s face mask during the play in question.
You don’t really see Bellinger get his hands near Overshown’s face mask at any point during the sequence, which means the Giants tight end both got his face mask held and a flag for it, too.
Refs throw a flag on Giants player Bellinger but on the replay it looks like he is the one who gets his facemask grabbed. #DALvsNYG pic.twitter.com/IVfGHRvdxe
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) September 27, 2024
The GIANTS got a facemask penalty for this pic.twitter.com/brClNrqyPq
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) September 27, 2024
Refs make mistakes. It’s a part of the game.
But for a ref to throw a flag for an uncommon penalty (offensive facemask) when Daniel Bellinger clearly did not grab a facemask at all, but clearly did have his own facemask grabbed is just rough.
1st & 10 inside the 30 to 3rd &…
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 27, 2024
This really seems like an egregious miss by this game’s officiating crew.
