Nothing really went the New York Giants‘ way in Week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles. They took a tough 38-20 loss, and to make things worse, the team was also upset with a few calls from the refs, especially that tush push fumble in the second quarter. After the game, the Giants’ outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux wasn’t happy about it, calling the play “bull—t,” and almost getting a fine.

“I don’t know, that’s some bull—t, man,” the LB said after the game. “Honestly… I feel like the refs got a kind of hard job because they don’t know when to stop it…It’s tough on defense…the refs don’t blow the whistle… When asked if the refs gave him any kind of explanation, Thibodeaux didn’t hold back.

“He said they (the official) called the 4 progress before he reached the ball out,” he added. “So, sounds like bull—it to me.”That’s when his teammate Brian Burns quickly warned him he might get fined for his comments. And when a reporter asked if the players had heard a whistle, Thibodeaux decided to steer clear and pivoted.

“That is the hard part about the tush push,” the LB said. “Sorry, I mean, that was a great call by the refs. You can’t blame missed calls on anything. I think we didn’t stop the run. They made the 50-50 balls, and they got the best of us.” Here’s how it all went down during that tush-push play.

On a fourth-and-1 play in the second quarter, Thibodeaux knocked the ball out of the Eagles’ quarterback, Jalen Hurts‘, hands, and it looked like a fumble. But the referees said Hurts’ forward progress had already stopped. As a result, it didn’t count as a fumble.

Of course, the Giants’ head coach, Brian Daboll, challenged the play, hoping to at least overturn the first down call, but lost the challenge. Two plays later, the Eagles scored a touchdown, which ended up being a key moment in the game, eventually leading to the Giants’ sixth loss of the season.

The Giants didn’t just lose the sixth game of the season

Brian Daboll was one of the head coaches on the hot seat heading into this season. While Jaxson Dart’s strong outing in a couple of games added a layer of optimism for the coach, some glaring issues are hard to miss. For starters, Daboll is off to his third-straight 2-6 start and has lost 31 of his last 42 games. The 38-20 loss to the Eagles was just another loss for the Giants.

The struggles and issues, however, were many. To kick things off, the defense was ugly. The New York team struggled to contain the Eagles’ run game, especially Saquon Barkley. The RB rushed for 150 yards on 14 carries and scored a touchdown. The pass defense, meanwhile, allowed Philly to gain 151 more yards through the air.

On top of that, the Eagles came up with a strategy to contain Dart. The rookie dismantled the Eagles through his legs in their previous meeting (58 yards on 13 carries and 1 TD). This time, however, Vic Fangio came up with a plan. A plan to do less blitzing.

From Weeks 4 through 6, Dart faced blitzes on nearly 45% of his dropbacks and made defenses pay by scrambling 14 times for 112 yards. But on Sunday, Fangio switched things up. He dialed back the pressure, blitzing on just 25.8% of dropbacks. The adjustment worked perfectly. Dart was held to just 17 yards on six carries as the Eagles kept the rookie contained inside the pocket.

Last and hopefully least, injuries did the rest of the work for the Giants. They’re already without their top wideout, Malik Nabers. After Sunday’s game, they’ll play without their top running back, Cam Skattebo, as well. The rookie RB suffered a season-ending ankle injury and is now expected to suit up only in the next season.

Long story short: Coach Daboll was on the hot seat heading into the season. Fast forward to now, and that narrative is still fresh with a new plotline.