Strange call costs Falcons

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. That was outta sight. No, I'm not referring to the Giants' 24-2 NFC wild-card victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, though it was quite impressive. I'm talking about the most significant play of the game, which was never seen. At least not by anybody who wasn't at MetLife Stadium. Here was the situation: Atlanta had the ball, second-and-10 at the Giants 30-yard line with 5:10 left in the third quarter. The Giants led 10-2. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan attempted a pass to Tony Gonzalez that was incomplete. The Falcons then took a timeout. And FOX took a commercial. During the commercial, a delayed penalty was called on Atlanta for 12 men being in the huddle. I can't remember ever seeing that before. The Falcons knew they were in trouble and called a timeout in an attempt to avoid a penalty. During the timeout, Giants coach Tom Coughlin complained, and the umpire who had seen 12 men in the huddle confirmed to the referee that a ...