Wayne Gallman sorry for fumble that nearly cost Giants playoff chance
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Miracle at the Meadowlands III was narrowly avoided.
In need of one first down to run out the clock on a 23-19 win, Giants running back Wayne Gallman broke through a tackle and was beyond the markers when he fumbled.
For a second, everyone was reminded of the Joe Pisarcik fumble in 1978 and the DeSean Jackson punt return in 2010 that led to heartbreaking Giants’ losses.
“When it initially hit the ground,” wide receiver Sterling Shepard said, “my stomach dropped a little bit.”
But Gallman sat on top of the loose ball and then wrapped his arms around it at the bottom of the scrum. Referee Brad Allen ruled a recovery and first down for the Giants — as unaware Cowboys players celebrated Jaylon Smith coming away with possession. Replay reviews upheld the call on the field that Gallman recovered and was down by contact.
“I’m sorry I caused drama,” Gallman said.
The Giants were able to get in the victory formation twice and keep alive playoff hopes pinned to the Eagles beating Washington. Had the Cowboys recovered, they would have had an opportunity to drive 39 yards in 58 seconds to score a touchdown, eliminate the Giants and be the team rooting for an Eagles’ upset.
Gallman said he didn’t realize he already picked up the first down and that’s why he was still fighting for yardage when the ball popped loose. He wanted to run to the goal line and slide down, keeping possession with the Giants.
“I had the opportunity to break and pretty much take it to the 1-yard line,” Gallman said. “At that time, situation-wise, I have to go down. I have to be better. It’s something that you work on each and every day at practice.”
Gallman, who had a fumbled handoff exchange with quarterback Daniel Jones earlier in the game, said he was “stressing” to the officials that he recovered. Replay only changed the yard line for a first down, which was irrelevant.
“I wouldn’t say they were late, but of course they saw [Smith] had the ball,” Gallman said. “He took it from me when I was down there in the pile. I had the ball already. I already knew I was down. I was just waiting for the right call to be made.”
Giants coach Joe Judge’s hopes were based on the initial ruling of a first down but he was in conversations with the offensive and defensive coordinators to be prepared for either situation. He didn’t see a clear replay.
“At that point it’s got to be an obvious clear recovery to overturn that,” Judge said. “We were in limbo in terms of what was going on with the review. They were looking more at the spot.”
If the Giants had not picked up a first down, they would’ve punted back to the Cowboys and defended a Hail Mary or two.
“I wanted to slap Wayne in the back of his head for fumbling, but he got the ball back,” safety Logan Ryan quipped. “I’ve seen that call go against us in other ways when it felt like we came out with the ball and then they gave it to the other team. Bonehead stuff happened this year, so hey, it is what it is.”
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