The 49ers’ last chance to come from behind and beat the Giants on Monday night was dealt a blow when a costly offside penalty was called on San Francisco’s offense. And the 49ers are unhappy with the officials for the way that penalty came about.
The penalty came with 32 seconds left, when offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey was lined up across the line of scrimmage. That’s a clear and obvious penalty, but McGlinchey only lined up across the line of scrimmage because the officials moved the ball just before the snap. McGlinchey was lined up legally according to where the officials initially spotted the ball, but just a second before the snap the ball was moved back, and McGlinchey was offside.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said he would have liked an explanation for why the ball was moved after McGlinchey was already lined up.
“Usually they spot the ball in the right spot and don’t change their mind right before the ball is snapped,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know if there’s supposed to be a rule. I think you’ve just got to do it right the first time. But, yeah, if that’s going to happen, I think there should be something. But, you try to yell and get an answer in the heat of the battle while the time clock’s going, eventually you’ve got to call a play and move on with your life.”
The 49ers took a timeout after the penalty to avoid a 10-second runoff. That was a timeout they would have liked to have back as they ran out of time on their last-gasp drive.