Challenges doom Birds
Challenges. Who would have believed it could have come down to replay challenges? On a night of high drama against the New York Giants, a night when the Eagles' defense got pushed around the field as if it were on wheels, a night when the Eagles deserved to have been blown out, who ever could have predicted that the outcome was decided largely by one replay challenge that went in favor of the Giants and one replay challenge that went against the Eagles?
Challenges doom Birds
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Challenges. Who would have believed it could have come down to replay challenges? On a night of high drama against the New York Giants, a night when the Eagles’ defense got pushed around the field as if it were on wheels, a night when the Eagles deserved to have been blown out, who ever could have predicted that the outcome was decided largely by one replay challenge that went in favor of the Giants and one replay challenge that went against the Eagles?
In the annals of this rivalry, this will be remembered as The Night of the Red Flag. In the years and decades to come, people will look back and see this as the night when the digital replay machine did in the Eagles in the end. The final score was Giants 36, Eagles 31. A bunch of stuff happened. But the challenges stand out.
That isn’t to say the calls were wrong. They were close, and referee Terry McAulay likely got them right. But that does not make it any more palatable. On the night the Eagles lost their last reasonable chance at winning the NFC East, some of the final, essential bits of the drama took place with McAulay’s head beneath the protective hood of the way-back machine.
The first key challenge came in the middle of the third quarter, with the Eagles leading by 24-20. On a third-and-10 play from the Eagles’ 20-yard line, Giants quarterback Eli Manning completed a pass over the middle to tight end Kevin Boss for a 17-yard gain. But a flag flew quickly. The call was that Manning was over the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball.
The next challenges also went the Giants’ way. Yes, there were two of them. Eagles coach Andy Reid never challenges – going into this season, he challenged fewer times than anyone in the NFL – but he ended up challenging on two consecutive plays in the fourth quarter. Both involved plays in which the Eagles claimed that Giants running back Brandon Jacobs fumbled. Both were unsuccessful, leading to a key Giants touchdown.
The residue of defeat, of this defeat, will wink at the Eagles from the table of standings in the newspaper for weeks and weeks. Pushed backward, pushed around, they lost to the Giants last night at Lincoln Financial Field and probably lost their final realistic chance to win the NFC East. Run over, run down, the Eagles have a 5-4 record and stare squarely at the probability that they might need to win six of their final seven games to make the playoffs.
Hanging on, just hanging on, they all must be wondering the same thing. What if either one of the replay challenges had gone their way?
I am officially counting the days until Big Red resigns or is fired. We have waited 10 years. TEN years. Has anything changed? We have got to be the worst team in Football at 3rd and short and 4th and short chances. All I've ever heard with this team is How BIG our offensive line is. How Andy WAS a offensive lineman and KNOWS the games are won and lost on the LINES. Well then home come OURS SUCK? I mean our offensive line CANNOT Block so we can gain 1 or two yards. And then our Defensive line cannot stop opposing teams from gaining 2oo Yards? Seriously, then we sign a CORNERBACK in the off-season for like $48 Millions Dollars? Money well spent Andy. You may succeed somewhere else, but we need a change. I'm ready to rebuild.— shady24- I wonder if Earth, Wind or Fire would have gotten a first down for us on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1? We need a back that will knock somebody over!!! Maybe Eckel will run with some motivation? We could trade one of our 6 WR's for a fullback...oh wait 5 of our 6 recievers wouldn't start for any other team in the NFL. I'm done with Reid as well.— jham32
Comment removed.- The Philly sports writers are negligent. This is Reid's 10th year and his team has finished in last place 3 times and are currently in last. Has any other NFL coach ever finished last 3 times with the same team? 4 times ever? Note on the telecast wrap up that Dan Patrick and Chris Collinsworth were mocking Reid. Apparently Tiki Barber was calling out the plays the Eagles were running before the plays. If a former offensive player 2 years removed from the game can do that, imagine how easy it is for current NFL defenses.— jtj06
Bad play choices, bad clock decisions, but no one factor had a bigger impact on the outcome than the officiating. 3 of the Giants touchdowns came after controversial calls. I can understand them not overturning the Jacobs fumble (second challenge), because it a case of getting the call wrong for the right reason, as even though he lost the ball before he crossed the line, the angle made it impossible to conclusively say that, and the original wrong call had to stand. Unfortunately, the refs failed to apply the same standard to the line of scrimmage call. The original call may have been wrong, but there could not have been conclusive evidence to overturn it, the angle makes it impossible to say where his foot was; the red line from the tv is not available to the refs, so all they saw was a foot and a sea of grass. So even if they got the call right, they did so improperly. At least they spotted the ball well for most of the night, unlike in years past when the Giants always seemed to be handed an extra yard or so on every play.— Pelti- shady-he WON'T resign, and Lurie WON'T fire him! We're stuck with him. Next topic...I NEVER listen to Eskin. But I plan on it tomorrow, just to see what excuses he has for his lover, AR. There are too many media people (one is too many) that make excuses for Reid. NO ONE takes him to task for his non answers in press conferences. When is it all going to end? I have a real hard time watching this team. I will always root for the players...as long as they're here, they're my guys. But I have a hard time rooting for the organization, as they are truly clueless.— Ron
- So, I'll put it out there.....who should be the Iggles next head coach?— ColeHarbourPhillyFan
- Challenges? We're talkin 'bout challenges man. Nah, Rich, let's talk about 200+ yards on the ground, and a 40 mins: 20 mins time of possession difference. Or 3 and outs at a time when the D is gassed. The Birds are the Big Ten representative of the NFC East right now. . . and unfortunately any bona fide contender (was the Steelers win really a confidence builder?) reps the SEC. I'm just curious where the excuses will come from now - everyone is supposedly healthy, so who's the fall guy? Finally, I expected this from the offense, as I have zero confidence in the playcalling. But the D I was really surprised with. Obviously, 8 other teams this season couldn't solve the 3 headed rush either, so we're not alone, but it just shows the Giants, who I despise above all others, have only themselves to look out for at this point. ...but hey, the Phillies won the World Series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— evolutionary
- Pelti-blaming the officiating is just a cop out, and is just one more thing that many Eagles fans do when they lose. The calls that you say were wrong were both correct. With regards to the line of scrimmage call, I have more of an issue with the rule as a whole. If only the ball needs to break the plane of the goal line, then in a situation where a qb is throwing on the run, one foot should suffice, or the arm being forward in the throwing motion should be considered beyond the line. The refs were fairly consistent. The Eagles were consistently bad.— Ron
- Pelti....do not blame the officials, they got the calls right and YES Jacobs WAS across the goal line. I wondered a little about how they could conclusively tell if Eli was or was not across the line of scrimmage on his pass....are they able to use the line that the TV broadcasts use? I also didn't know that every part of the body had to be past the line, I figured if you stepped over and passed, it was illegal.....live and learn I guess.....please do not blame the officials though.— ColeHarbourPhillyFan
- My point is, with the line of scrimmage call, unless they could say 100 percent his foot was behind the line of scrimmage, the couldn't overturn it, and when that line is not actually there, and your viewing the scene at an angle, from a camera 200 yards away, how can you say that his heal was still touching that invisible line. It wasn't like they reviewed it and found he was fully behind the line, or even straddling it, they actually said that it was his foot only, and thats not conclusive enough in my book. I get fed up with this taboo that you can't even acknowledge that the officials affect the game. They weren't the only reason the Eagles lost, certainly their inability to stop the run, and some terrible playcalling and clock management hurt them too, but the refs were a factor. By making a judgement call, they are affecting the game, every time they blow their whistles they change something. I hate pro referees, and I don't make a secret of it. They have zero accountability except to the league itself, and that to me is a conflict of interest.— Pelti
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- Rich...you are so lost. The replay challenges are the story of the game?? Did you not watch the last two minutes? Dude, I used to really enjoy your columns. Now you are one of the most inept writers in any major market in America. Someone bring back the real Rich Hoffman!!— jeffmacnow1234
- Challenges cost the game. Why, cause we lost timeouts your idiots. Reid stinks!!!!!— Nezhy
- We now officially back to the Joe Kuharich era. Remember this one "Ya win some, ya lose some, and some ya teeter totter". On crucial calls at the end of games Ried Teeter-totters. We had the ball for 90 seconds in the first period. 90 seconds. And I am with all those good fans who hate the McSmiles all around during and after the game. They go a collect their pay checks while we fans try to gather in our guts after spilling them again for all the sports world to see. I WONDER IF CHOLLY KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL.— stoky
