New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur isn’t surprised his challenge of a non-call on a pass interference Thursday night wasn’t correct.
Here we go again with the ups-and-downs of calls and non-calls of pass interference becoming reviewable. Mostly just downs, if we’re going to be completely honest.
On Thursday night, late in the fourth quarter, with the 35-14 New England Patriots lead already out of hand, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones tried to connect on a pass over the middle to wideout Golden Tate.
The pass fell incomplete, with apparent contact from Patriots defensive back Jonathan Jones. However, no penalty flag was thrown.
Then came the challenge from Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, one that he wasn’t astonished to get wrong.
“I thought I had a solid chance to get it,” Shurmur said, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “But we see that replay doesn’t overturn much. So, I am not surprised.”
There was definitely contact, so that means there should be a penalty, right? Or no? If you’re an NFL fan in 2019, you don’t have much of an idea on the matter. This aspect of the game has arguably become worse than the “what’s a catch and what’s not a catch” fiasco that’s occurred in recent years.
The intended receiver on the play was also confused by the outcome of the situation.
“I’m really unclear what the rule is so I’m hoping we send it into the NFL and they explain to us what they see and what they think and why it wasn’t called,” Tate said. “Not that that changes the outcome of the game, but in the future maybe that could be a crucial play.”
Even if the call got overturned, the only thing it would really affect would be both personal and team statistics. At that point, with a 21-point lead, the Patriots had already essentially sealed their sixth consecutive victory to start the 2019 season.
