Tom Coughlin late getting challenge flag out of his sock, Colts score touchdown
The Giants were caught off-guard on a play they never expected to be run, and it resulted in a Colts touchdown.
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
The first touchdown in an otherwise awfully boring Monday Night Football game probably shouldn't have happened, but Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was too slow to throw his red challenge flag on the field. Andrew Luck hit Colts tight end Coby Fleener on the left sideline on their first drive of the second quarter, but it looked like the ball may have come loose before he ever had control as he went to the ground. It was hard to tell if there was enough evidence to overturn the 21-yard gain.
Coughlin tried to get the ref’s attention as the Colts raced up to the line of scrimmage to hustle off the next play, which went for 32 yards and a Fleener touchdown. The Giants were caught flat-footed and looking over at their own sideline on what they assumed was going to be a play that was blown dead, but Coughlin was too late getting the attention of the official and fetching his red challenge flag from his sock.
Whether the play was overturned or not, the subsequent completion to a wide-open Fleener doesn’t happen if Coughlin could just get his stupid challenge flag loose and out onto the field. Instead, the head referee had to bluntly announce to the home crowd that the “challenge flag is ignored” as the Colts lined up for an extra point.
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