The referees in the Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants game are in extremely hot water on Sunday.
The Eagles are tied with the Giants, 7-7, early in the second quarter. Philadelphia just ran a tush push play on a 4th and 1 deep in New York territory. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts appeared to get the first down, but upon making contact with a Giants defender, he fumbled the football. Hurts had reached out in the pile, pushing the football past the first down marker. But as he did that, the ball was ripped away by a Giants defender.
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Philadelphia lucked out, though. The referees had already called Hurts’ progress stopped. The fumble happened, but according to the refs, it happened after the whistle had already been blown.
Jalen Hurts running. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)Al Bello/Getty Images
Video of the play has immediately gone viral on social media, as fans are calling for the officiating crew to be fired. Even FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady were quick to react to the ridiculous call, admitting that the referees blew the whistle way too early. It should have been the Giants football.
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“I mean you literally can’t do anything. Should be Giants ball,” one fan wrote.
NFL fans want refs fired ‘immediately’
“These refs are awful. Giants V Eagles crew should be put in jail for their incompetence. May 2026 can’t come close enough, FIRE THEM ALL AND RESTART,” one fan wrote.
“Fire those refs in the Eagles game what was that callðŸ˜,” one fan added.
“This is blatant cheating. The NFL should fire every ref right now during the game. I hate the Giants, but they’re ruining the NFL,” one fan added.
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“You need to immediately fire these refs in the giants game,” one fan added.
The problem with the ‘tush push’
This is the latest example in why the “Tush Push” is such an impossible play for referees to officiate. It’s why longtime NFL rules expert Dean Blandino announced that he was “done” with the play.
“I am done with the tush push guys. It’s a hard play to officiate,” he said live on the NFL on FOX broadcast earlier this year.
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NFL teams had a chance to ban the play in the offseason, but 10 teams – including the Eagles – voted to keep it:
The NFL needs to do something about this play in the offseason.
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Oct 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.