Giants Country

Dexter Lawrence Reveals Thoughts on New York Giants' Game-changing Penalty

The Giants defensive lineman strongly hints the call wasn't the right one, but the video evidence on the Washington Football Team's game-winning field goal sequence suggests otherwise.

Patricia Traina

Dexter Lawrence Reveals Thoughts on New York Giants' Game-changing Penalty
Dexter Lawrence Reveals Thoughts on New York Giants' Game-changing Penalty /

New York Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence's job on the field goal block is simple.

"My job is to get off and attack whoever is in front of me," Lawrence said Friday.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the officials spotted Lawrence moving before the ball moved, and they threw a yellow flag to draw attention to it.

If that wasn't bad enough, Washington Football Team kicker Dustin Hopkins missed the field goal wide right, meaning that the penalty on Lawrence not only shortened the attempt by five yards it also gave him a do-over which he made.

"That's on me. I gotta be more disciplined at the end of the game like that in a critical situation," Lawrence said. "It was unfortunate it had to happen then and he missed it, but I gotta do better."

Lawrence didn't come right out and say it, but he seemed to think he was innocent of the infraction for which he was flagged.

"I'm supposed to move when the ball moves," he said, repeating several times that his opinion didn't matter regarding whether the call was the right one. "Obviously I gave it to the ref to make that decision to think that I moved before the ball moved."

Based on the slow-mo replay shown below, Lawrence appeared to move prematurely before the ball was snapped. However, absent the sideline view, it's really hard to tell from this angle if Lawrence was indeed over the line before the ball was snapped or if he just timed his jump perfectly. 

That said, the NFL apparently agreed with the original call.

Lawrence's gaffe wasn't the only one that sank the Giants' battleship, but it was undoubtedly the final nail in the coffin, which now has the Giants with their fifth straight 0-2 start to a season.

"It doesn't matter," he said when asked if he disagreed with the call. "We lost the game, and the refs call what they call. Just gotta move on, shake it off, and get ready for next week.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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