Giants' Odell Beckham is no fan of referee Terry McAulay’s crew

PITTSBURGH — Odell Beckham Jr. was calm as he spoke. He said over and over that he didn’t want to anyone to think he was blaming the officials for the New York Giants’ 24-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

But the superstar receiver made abundantly clear he was unhappy with multiple calls (and/or non-calls); he doesn’t think referee Terry McAulay’s crew should work future Giants games; and he didn’t like one official saying to get out of his face when Beckham disputed a call.

Beckham, who finished with 10 receptions for 100 yards, pleaded for flags that didn’t come after several incompletions during the game and raised the officiating himself afterward, when asked whether he’s surprised a Giants offense that averaged 26.2 points a game in 2015 is averaging nearly a touchdown less (20.4) this season.

Steelers offense comes together in win over Giants

“We’ve just go to make plays,” Beckham said. “You’ve got to know we’re coming in here, and it’s us against the world in a sense. You can’t sit there and rely on refs — obviously. Obviously, that’s not the case. You can’t sit there and rely on them, if anybody watched the game today.

“But it’s not like I’m sitting here saying the refs are the reason we lost the game. But there’s plenty of calls in the game, and anybody can go watch the film. Anybody. Anybody can go watch the film and see exactly what was going on. I don’t know. I don’t really think that we should have this crew anymore … with the past history and everything that’s going on.”

Beckham was referring to the fact that McAulay’s crew worked the Giants’ infamous Week 15 game against the Carolina Panthers last season, in which Beckham and now-Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman combined for five unnecessary roughness penalties — three on Beckham, who was suspended for the following week’s game. (Beckham also mentioned a game against the Redskins, but John Hussey worked the game between those teams in September. McAulay has worked one other Giants game during Beckham’s career, against the Houston Texans in 2014, and Beckham was inactive.)

On Sunday, McAulay’s crew enforced just four penalties for 24 yards against the Giants compared to 12 for 115 yards against the Steelers, including one against cornerback Ross Cockrell for interfering with Beckham. No flag was thrown for what Beckham seemed to feel was a late shot from Steelers safety Mike Mitchell in the early going, leading Beckham to throw a forearm before teammates intervened, and he pleaded during the game for more interference calls on Pittsburgh.

NFL playoff picture: Field finalized with NFC North settled

But Beckham seemed most perturbed by an offensive pass interference call against him in the first quarter that backed up the Giants, setting up a safety three plays later when tackle Ereck Flowers was called for holding in the end zone.

“I don’t pay attention to nonsense,” Beckham said. “It was a horrible call, in my opinion. I don’t understand how I’m running down the field on a go route and someone tries to stop my progress, but I can’t put my hands on them. But like I said, you can’t sit there and rely on anybody. You’ve got to go out and get it, so just try and stay composed. It’s hard to stay composed when you know that there’s a lot of nonsense going on.”

Asked what explanation he got for the call, Beckham said: “Actually, I went up to ask him what was going on, what was the flag, and he said ‘get out my face.' "

Had an official said anything like that to him before?

“No. I haven’t really heard that, and like I said, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf,” said Beckham, who has cut back on his on-field tantrums since a memorable meltdown against the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 3 left him lamenting that he wasn’t having fun anymore.

The Harrisons: Four NFL figures who flopped in Week 13

“I’m trying to just play football the way I love playing football. And it’s hard,” Beckham added. “It almost feels like a disrespect thing. I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong so I don’t do it again, and you’re going to sit here and tell me ‘get out my face.’ I don’t really understand that. That’s not really how I was raised or anything like that.

“But again, man, I don’t want anybody to sit here and misquote and say that I’m saying the refs are the reason we lost the game, because that’s clearly not why we lost the game.”

The specificity of Beckham’s remarks about McAulay’s crew could open him up to discipline. Last month, the NFL fined Norman $25,000 for delivering a message through the media to field judge Brad Freeman: “You suck.”

***

Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero

PHOTOS: Colorful cleats for a cause in Week 13