Odell Beckham Jr. called it The Odell Beckham Jr. Rule, a pregame warning both he and Josh Norman received from the zebras that making a mockery of the game during Star War II would warrant an immediate ejection.
On this day, it wasn’t Beckham who made a mockery of the game.
It was the rest of his team.
McAdumb Giants.
The volatile Beckham (seven receptions, 121 yards) erupted only once, and this time it was on the Giants sidelines early in the fourth quarter when he appeared to be crying and then swiped the kicking net with his hand in disgust.
He appeared so distraught that Eli Manning felt compelled to sidle up to him to calm him down, and mission accomplished.
“We need everybody to stay calm, we don’t need to get rattled,” Manning said.
It wasn’t Norman that had turned him into Mount Beckham this time.
It was his own team, and his own quarterback.
This was McAdoomsday, the rookie head coach’s first defeat, and it ended Redskins 29, Giants 27 because seemingly everyone other than Beckham lost his head on the field.
There was Weston Richburg, letting Norman get in his head and earning the first double unsportsmanlike conduct ejection this season for pushing Norman from behind and denied taunting him at the end of a 24-yard pass to Beckham that would have set the Giants up first-and-goal at the 5 early in the fourth quarter.
It was Manning who threw the interception in the end zone from the Redskins 15 two plays later at a time when the Giants trailed 26-24.
On a pass over the middle intended for Will Tye. Not for Odell Beckham Jr., who had a step on Norman on the right side near the goal line. WILL TYE! Who made a lackluster attempt to complete the play.
“Poor decision, poor throw right there, could have gone into my other progressions, and possibly had someone else open,” Manning said.
McAdoomsday.
It was rookie safety Anthony Adams who negated a blocked punt by Romeo Okwara with a mindless unnecessary roughness penalty on the next possession. One of 11 penalties. For 128 yards.
McAdoomsday.
It was Olivier Vernon whose roughing the passer penalty on Kirk Cousins on a second-and-14 incompletion helped the Redskins keep the ball for five additional minutes and drive for the winning field goal.
McAdoomsday.
It was Trevin Wade who was suckered on a fake punt for a 31-yard completion to a cornerback, Quinton Dunbar, on the field-goal drive that made it Redskins 26, Giants 24.
McAdoomsday.
But Manning, the one Giant you can count on for his commitment to poise and discipline, for being comfortable being uncomfortable, the two-time Super Bowl MVP, would save the day, right? Or so MetLife Stadium thought.
It was Manning who threw the killer interception from the Giants’ 39 with 1:09 and two timeouts left.
On a pass intended for Shane Vereen. Not Odell Beckham Jr. SHANE VEREEN! Who lost another fumble earlier.
“Shane had a little inside breaking route and the guy [Su’a Cravens] undercut it. … I didn’t think he’d be able to get all the way underneath on it, so bad decision by me, should have gone on to my next progression,” Manning said.
“Felt good about the situation, we didn’t execute well enough, and that goes on me.”
It was Manning who seemed to have Beckham streaking alone deep down the left sideline on his first play of the fourth quarter when Norman came off him to draw an unnecessary roughness penalty at the end of a 12-yard completion over the middle to Sterling Shepard.
He was asked about not targeting Beckham, Shepard or Victor Cruz on his interceptions.
“Just going through the progression, you expect everybody to make plays, Shane’s been a big playmaker for us, Will Tye’s made plays for us,” Manning said. “It just depends on the coverage and where guys are and how things are going. And that’s how it worked out.”
Manning was aware that Beckham had been warned by the officials. “They were gonna be watching him, he handled the situation well,” Manning said.
Beckham and Norman, of course, made this bed.
“We feel like this has turned into something that is not football,” Beckham said.
It was not Ben McAdoo football.
“We need to be a more disciplined football team, and we’ll get that fixed,” he said. “I have to do a better job.”
Because it was McAdumb football, and it led to McAdoomsday.