Cowboys-Giants penalties: NFL fans, Al Michaels vent frustrations over referee Clay Martin's flag-happy crew on 'TNF'

Gilbert McGregor

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Cowboys-Giants penalties: NFL fans, Al Michaels vent frustrations over referee Clay Martin's flag-happy crew on 'TNF' image

Robert Deutsch

While the Giants and Cowboys are meeting in a crucial early-season matchup on "Thursday Night Football," the game's story quickly deviated from the action on the field to the way the game was officiated.

Penalty flags flew early and often throughout the first half of the divisional matchup between NFC East rivals, with a number of the calls drawing reactions on the broadcast and throughout social media.

As with many controversial showings from officials, there was pushback on calls, non-calls, and calls that were ultimately overturned. It wasn't limited to just penalties, either.

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Much of the scrutiny has been directed to lead official Clay Martin, who has never officiated a Cowboys loss. It is worth noting, however, that Dallas has been penalized more than New York in this game.

Here's a look at the officiating that caused a stir among football fans throughout Week 4's "Thursday Night Football" installment.

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Cowboys-Giants penalties: Flags dominate 'Thursday Night Football'

One of the first officiating missteps came on a scramble from Giants QB Daniel Jones. As Jones looked to pick up a few extra yards, New York TE Daniel Bellinger was whistled for a facemask.

The issue with the foul is that Bellinger was clearly on the receiving end of a facemask, making the fact that he was called for one questionable, to say the least.

On the first Cowboys score of the night, RB Rico Dowdle almost curiously makes his way into the end zone untouched. A look at the replay explains why the touchdown looked as easy, as Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson appears to have held a Giants defender.

A flag was thrown on the play but it was picked up and the score stood.

On Dallas' second score, CeeDee Lamb appeared to have some fun with his opponent after breaking free for an impressive 55-yard touchdown. As he made his way into the end zone, Lamb took his time, backpedaled into the end zone, and made eye contact with Giants DB Deonte Banks before tossing the ball in his direction.

Apparently, the officials felt the ball was thrown at Banks, resulting in Lamb being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Criticism of officiating hasn't been limited to penalties, either. A would-be fumble from Giants RB Devin Singletary was called dead, but replays show the ball may have been out before Singletary was down by contact.

At halftime, a total of 12 penalties had been accepted (and several more called and declined). Nine were committed by the Cowboys and three by the Giants. 

The final tally saw Dallas penalized 11 times for 89 yards and New York get flagged four times for 35 yards.

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Al Michaels vents frustration over penalties in 'TNF'

While providing play-by-play commentary, Michaels was not shy about airing his grievances about the number of flags that had been thrown.

Michaels made a reference to June 14th, which is "Flag Day" in the United States, and also dropped several golden quotes. Among Michaels' best was reacting with a genuine "You're kidding" after a flag was thrown and sarcastically saying that 147 flags had been thrown in the first half.

The legendary broadcaster also added that the officials will need to get new flags for the second half because the first half flags must be filthy, going as far as suggesting the officiating crew order new flags from Amazon, a shameless plug for the "TNF" broadcast network.

Who is Clay Martin?

Martin is an NFL referee. He has been officiating NFL games since the 2015 season.

Martin wears No. 19 and was promoted to lead referee ahead of the 2018 NFL season following the retirement of Terry McAulay and Gene Steratore. Martin lives in Tulsa, Okla., where he is the head baseball coach and athletic director at Jenks High School.

As noted above, Martin has never officiated a game in which the Cowboys lost.

Gilbert McGregor

Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor first joined The Sporting News in 2018 as a content producer for Global editions of NBA.com. Before covering the game, McGregor played basketball collegiately at Wake Forest, graduating with a Communication degree in 2016. McGregor began covering the NBA during the 2017-18 season and has been on hand for a number of league events.