Odell Beckham Jr. sounds off about officiating after Giants’ loss to Steelers

The New York Giants suffered a 24-14 frustrating loss on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It seemed that no matter what they tried to do, they just couldn’t get things going.

After the game, Odell Beckham Jr. said that officials weren’t the reason the Giants lost, but added that Terry McAulay’s crew shouldn’t work Giants games, according to Tom Pelissero. Beckham, who had 10 receptions for 100 yards, also added that one of the officials didn’t take too kindly when he questioned an OPI call:

Beckham was visibly frustrated, particularly with plays by Steelers safety Mike Mitchell, like the one below.

The Giants were penalized four times for 24 yards in the game. The Steelers, on the other hand, were penalized 12 times for a total of 115 yards. Beckham’s frustrations seem to be with no-calls, but as far as called penalties go, the Giants got the better end of that.

The officiating crew was the same as it was in New York’s 29-27 loss to Washington in Week 3. Beckham had complained after the game that the referees gave a bizarre warning beforehand: “They came up before the game and said, ‘if you do anything, we’re throwing you out of the game,”’ Beckham told reporters, via USA TODAY. “That was before the game. There was, ‘no, you get a warning.’ There was not any of that.”

That was the same officiating crew from last season’s game when the Giants and Panthers played a heated matchup in East Rutherford, which might have explained the warning. In that game, Beckham and Josh Norman got into multiple fights, with Beckham going out of his way at times to hit Norman.

This isn’t the first time the Giants had a gripe with officiating this season, either. Despite getting a win, they didn’t like the officiating in their 27-23 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6. They disagreed with a pass interference call against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

“It was a horrible call,” linebacker Jonathan Casillas told ESPN.

Beckham’s counterpart at wide receiver, Victor Cruz, had his own strong criticisms that week. “The refs, they felt like they had their own personal agendas today, but that’s a whole separate issue,” Cruz said.

The loss puts the Giants at 8-4 on the season, and they lost a step against the first-place Dallas Cowboys, who are 11-1.