Odell Beckham Jr. received a suspension for his battle with Josh Norman and the Carolina Panthers secondary, but he should've been ejected from the game, according to NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino.
NFL head of officiating had to remind referee he could eject Odell Beckham Jr.
Dean Blandino thinks officials should’ve done more to stop a battle between Odell Beckham Jr. and Josh Norman from spiraling out of control, even if it meant ejecting both players.
Instead Beckham remained in the game and played a huge factor in a comeback mounted by the New York Giants, catching a game-tying touchdown with less than two minutes remaining. Blandino said on NFL Network on Tuesday that "ejections were warranted."
Blandino even called the officials during the game to “remind” them that they could eject players to keep control of the game.
“The crew was doing a really tough job of trying to keep the game under control,” Blandino said on NFL Total Access. “They had spoken to both head coaches. They had spoken to the players. There was a point during the game when I did get on the headset to the replay official to remind the referee that, ‘You can eject players. You’ll have our full support. This thing cannot get out of control.’”
On one play, Beckham intentionally targeted and blindsided Norman with a helmet-to-helmet strike. He will appeal his one-game suspension on Wednesday:
Blandino said on Tuesday that officials could’ve done a better job nipping the feud between Beckham and Norman in the bud by establishing a tone early with penalties.
“I think there was a couple of opportunities, for me in looking at the tape, there were two or three opportunities early in the game to throw a flag and set the tone,” Blandino said. “You always want to set the tone early. Not make something up, but when something raising to the level of unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct we can’t miss those opportunities. Because that sets the tone for the entire game.”
But Blandino suggested that Beckham shouldn’t have been the only player disqualified for his actions. While he didn’t name Norman specifically, Blandino said that players on both teams could have been ejected by officials.
“It’s certainly an accumulation of instances and not just on Beckham,” Blandino said. “There was some things on the other side, too, and I think both parties were involved. The officials, if you asked them, they would agree after looking at the tape that ejections were warranted.”
Norman received just over $26,000 in fines for his actions during the game, including a fine for grabbing the facemask of Beckham, although a penalty wasn’t called on the play.
The Panthers improved to 14-0 with a game-winning field goal as time expired, while the Giants dropped to 6-8. Carolina has already clinched a first-round bye in the postseason, and the Giants aren’t yet eliminated, although they need some help.
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