Ball don’t lie: 3 worst calls from Week 17 in the NFL

1. Cowboys on the wrong side of referee mishap

With their season on the line, the Dallas Cowboys were victimized by a an official miscommunication. You say left, I say right. I say tomatoh, you say tomato. Get the picture yet?

The Giants had this game won, and with it a chance at the NFC East title assuming the Eagles took care of business on Sunday Night Football against the Washington Football Team (spoiler: they didn’t). Nonetheless, such a fate was taken out of the hands of the Dallas Cowboys thanks to one mishap.

Wayne Gallman ran for what should’ve been a game-winning first down, meaning the Giants would’ve merely had to snap the ball and kneel to run the clock out. Instead, Gallman picked up the first down and immediately fumbled, “recovering” the ball by sitting on it. Instead of the butt fumble, Gallman made a butt recovery that never should’ve counted.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1345841390375337989

We can laugh that the fate of the NFC East could’ve come down to such a ridiculous play — and you’d be right to do so. However, the fact that this officiating crew couldn’t even decipher which team recovered the fumble isn’t a good sign for what’s to come.

I wish you luck, football fans. The playoffs could bring the best — or worst — out of NFL officiating. For now, it’s trending in the wrong direction.

Recap: So what did we learn this week? The Browns got some home cooking, NFL officials always hate the Lions and even the Cowboys are capable of having critical calls go against them (see: above, plus Dez caught it). Nothing like a D to close out the regular season!