The Giants might have been robbed of a long Aldrick Rosas field goal attempt to send Sunday’s 25-22 loss to the Eagles into overtime at Lincoln Financial Field.
On the final play, the Giants in desperation tried for some trickery, with Sterling Shepard catching a 3-yard pass and then lateralling to Odell Beckham Jr.
Beckham was immediately tripped up by linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill — actually tripped up. That is a penalty, for either tripping (10 yards) or possibly a leg-whip (a 15-yard penalty).
FOX analyst Dean Blandino, the former NFL head of officials, and former NFL referee Gene Steratore, now working for CBS, both took to Twitter to state a penalty flag should have been thrown.
“I don’t think you are allowed to trip,” coach Pat Shurmur said Monday. “We would have been kicking with the wind a 62-yarder, with a strong-legged kicker. We had a 63-yarder [versus the Panthers earlier this season] made against us, so who knows?”
Rosas went 3-for-3 on his field goal attempts in the game and hit one from 51 yards away going the same way he might have tried a 62-yarder.
“I hit it pretty decent for the conditions,’’ said Rosas, who is 23-of-24 on field goals this season. “I felt like I barely tapped that one. I definitely had more to give on that, for sure.’’
If the 15-yard penalty was called, the ball would have been at the Eagles 44-yard line and Rosas would have been called on for a 62-yarder to send the game into overtime.
“I was definitely ready,” he said. “That would have been nice to have an attempt.”