It seems the New York Giants have avoided kicking off a Deflategate II, but the team still remains under investigation by the NFL after it used a walkie-talkie on the sideline against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Giants won the game, ending Dallas’ 11-game streak. During the contest, though, the Giants’ communications systems failed, prompting the coaching staff to use walkie-talkies, which might be considered illegal under league rules.
Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm broke it down:
After the radio transmitter in Manning’s helmet stopped working early in the fourth quarter, Giants head coach Ben McAdoo used a walkie-talkie to transmit the plays to Manning. The league is looking into the matter; NFL rules stipulate that communication between the coaches and quarterbacks must stop when there are 15 or fewer seconds on the play clock.
It appears the Cowboys also intercepted the walkie-talkie usage and informed the NFL with the formal request to investigate the matter this week.
This isn’t a huge deal overall—the Giants had a technological gaffe and worked around it. But if the staff used the devices outside of allowed times, then the league will have something to say on the matter.
In the end, this seems like a matter that will get addressed in rules changes during the offseason. It’s a unique event, so allowing teams to work around technology failures is bound to come up now that the Giants have let the cat out of the bag.
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