Giants players blast controversial DPI penalty in loss to Commanders: 'This league is funny, bro'

The late-game penalty led to a game-winning Commanders touchdown

Nov 13, 2026 at 12:25 pm ET • 2 min read

The Giants and their fans are criticizing a late-game, controversial pass interference call in a drive that ended in a Washington Commanders game-winning touchdown.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, the referees called a defensive pass interference penalty on Giants cornerback Deonte Banks for his coverage on Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks, but not everyone agrees with the call. 

Many argue that Burks initiated contact by pulling Banks to draw the penalty. Some argue it was an uncatchable ball and others are saying that it should've been offensive pass interference. Banks not turning towards the ball didn't help his case, however. 

Here is a look at the play:

The penalty pushed Jayden Daniels offense up 33 yards and just four plays later, Washington capped off a 71-yard drive with a touchdown. The trip to the end zone put them up 24-21, and it would stay that way. The Commanders got their third victory of the year to improve to 3-5-1, while the Giants fell to 5-3-1. 

After the game, Banks left the locker room without speaking to reporters, but some of his teammates did the talking and weren't happy.

"This league is funny, bro," safety Tyler Nubin said. "This league is funny. There's really nothing you can do about it, man. When you're in trail position, nine times out of 10, they're going to call that PI. That's just how the league is. Just got to weather it."

When asked what he meant by "funny," Nubin continued, with some commentary on the league as a whole.

"What do I mean by funny? S---, it's an offense-driven league. They want to see points. You can't control what the refs do. But you've got to know [that] in those situations, it's probably going to be called," Nubin said.

Safety Jason Pinnock also had some comments, being careful what he said, while also making it clear how he felt about his penalty and other ways he feels offensive players are capitalizing on plays like the one on Thursday night.

"I'm going to be honest, and I ain't going to say nothing that gets me fined," Pinnock. "But it's getting to a point now where [offensive coordinators] are taking advantage of it. They're not calling real plays. They're going four wide, and they're throwing that junk outside. And it looks like these receivers literally have techniques to get PIs. They're grabbing the back of DBs' necks. It's almost like it's becoming a technique."

Pinnock said these "techniques" he feels like offenses are using are impacting the value of the game, calling it "boring" and "frustrating." Defensive players have been openly critical of the difficulty of playing on that side of the ball, and Pinnock added some more insight into how players are feeling.

"When they need a big play, and they can't get nothing going, they're throwing balls on the outside — and these receivers are grabbing the back of DBs' necks," Pinnock continued. "It's getting boring. It's getting frustrating. You can't play defense in this league."

It was a game-defining penalty and as they say, one play doesn't completely define a game, as the Giants should've set themselves up to where the penalty wouldn't matter, but a late-game controversial call can certainly feel like the one thing that led to the loss.

The Giants still stand atop the NFC East, with all four teams in the division struggling. The Dallas Cowboys are right behind the Giants at 4-5.