Cue “Three Blind Mice.”
As the Giants put together a productive first drive against the rival Cowboys on “Thursday Night Football,” tight end Daniel Bellinger was flagged for an offensive facemask penalty.
The only problem?
Replays showed that Bellinger was the one getting his facemask pulled by Dallas defensive back DeMarvion Overshown.
As quarterback Daniel Jones picked up three yards on a scramble to what would have made it third-and-3 for the Giants, officials threw the flag and called a 15-yard foul on Bellinger.
So Big Blue was forced to step back to a second-and-18 instead of third-and-short, and while they did gain some of the yardage back, they settled for a 52-yard field goal from kicker Greg Joseph.
Social media, unsurprisingly, was miffed.
“Refs throw a flag on Giants player Bellinger but on the replay it looks like he is the one who gets his facemask grabbed,” wrote Rate the Refs App.
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“Did Bellinger just get called for a facemask that HE was a victim of??” wrote a fan.
“Bellinger getting called for a face mask while being face masked is crazy work,” another added.
Dallas scored a touchdown on the ensuing possession — on a play in which the refs threw a flag for what appeared to be holding on Rico Dowdle’s catch-and run score, but picked it up, much to the chagrin of Giants coach Brian Daboll.
