Mike McCarthy Reveals Why He Decided Not to Challenge a Questionable Giants Reception

The Cowboys had a chance to knock the Giants out of field goal range in the fourth quarter by simply challenging a pass completion to receiver Dante Pettis that the replay showed was incomplete. So why didn't the Cowboys throw the red flag?

The Giants held Dallas out of the end zone on the final series of Sunday's do-or-die matchup, emerging with a 23-19 win to keep their playoffs hope alive. 

While many plays would have likely changed the outcome and flow of the game had they gone in the opposite direction, one play, in particular, that will likely receive a great deal of scrutiny is the 10-yard reception by Giants receiver Dante Pettis which, from the replay, looked like an incomplete pass.

Had that pass been ruled incomplete, it would have taken the Giants out of field goal range on fourth down and given Dallas the ball back, only needing a field goal to win at that point in the game. 

Mike Pereira: “No question in my mind that if Dallas would’ve challenged this it would have been reversed to an incomplete pass.” pic.twitter.com/cKolhlaBMl

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) January 3, 2021

The Giants, who some might argue have been on the wrong side of some close calls by the officials, got away with one there as they lined up for Graham Gano's 50-yard field goal to cap the drive. Still, a bigger question is why didn't Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy challenge the play after scrutinizing it on the stadium's scoreboard? 

"The catch was obviously not in our area and the way the receiver turned to me and the information we had, we felt it was too close," McCarthy explained after the game. "It was kind of a bang-bang type situation." 

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With the Cowboys trailing by one possession late in the fourth quarter, McCarthy admitted that he didn't want to risk burning a timeout if the challenge was unsuccessful. 

"We were in a tight game and the three timeouts, there was obviously a pot of value there," he said. 

Regardless of McCarthy's perspective, the video replay showed that the ball did touch the ground before Pettis completed the process of a catch and should have been ruled incomplete. 

While there is no guarantee that the game would have unfolded the same way had the call been overturned, and the Giants were forced to punt, a successful challenge would still have put the Dallas offense back on the field trailing by just a point.

After Gano's field goal, the Cowboys put together a 17-play drive that burned over five minutes off the clock and forced the Giants to burn the last of their timeouts. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, that drive ended with an interception in the end zone by rookie safety Xavier McKinney.

For the Giants, a stroke of luck and neglect on the part of McCarthy helped end their seven-game losing streak to their division rival at just the right time, as they still have a chance to win the NFC East pending the outcome of the matchup between the Eagles and Washington Football Team. 

And even if the Giants don't win the East, they ended a challenging 2020 season with a feel-good win that hopefully will set a new tone for the franchise's future fortunes.