When the Giants lost a hard-fought game to the Packers in the regular season, coach Tom Coughlin said after the game that he was sick to his stomach over what appeared to be a Giants touchdown catch that the officials ruled an incomplete pass.
Right now Coughlin must be feeling even sicker.
In the first quarter of today’s NFC divisional playoff game in Green Bay, Packers receiver Greg Jennings caught a pass from Aaron Rodgers and appeared to fumble just before he was tackled. Initially, the officials ruled it a fumble that the Giants recovered. And then after a brief discussion, the officials changed their minds and ruled that Jennings was down by contact.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin challenged, and it looked like he would win: The replay showed the ball starting to come out before Jennings was down. Stunningly, referee Bill Leavy reviewed the play and announced that it would stand as called. He did not explain why.
Former NFL head of officiating Mike Pereira said on the FOX broadcast that he couldn’t figure out why Leavy didn’t award the ball to the Giants.
“If I was under the hood I would have reversed this to a fumble with a clear recovery to the Giants and given the ball to the Giants,” Pereira said.
The ruling was extremely costly for the Giants, as the Packers would go on to score a touchdown on the possession that was extended by the bad call. The Packers caught a huge break in a game that’s currently tied 10-10.