Giants' Odell Beckham Jr. suspended 1 game for run-ins with Panthers cornerback

EAST RUTHERFORD -- The NFL has suspended New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for one game for his conduct in Sunday's loss to Carolina in which he drew three personal foul penalties.

Beckham would miss Sunday night's game at Minnesota, but he has the right to appeal the suspension that was announced Monday.

Beckham and Panthers cornerback Josh Norman tangled from the beginning of the Panthers' 38-35 victory. At one point, Beckham delivered a diving helmet-to-helmet hit on Norman while blocking.

There was plenty of pushing, shoving, swinging, wrestling, late hits and trash talking between them.

The Giants (6-8) would lose their top offensive weapon for a game they almost certainly must win to remain in the NFC East race.

Beckham, the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year, has 91 catches for 1,396 yards and 13 touchdowns, tied for the league lead.

And on a day that Cam Newton threw for five touchdowns and led a game-winning drive to put the Panthers two wins away from a perfect season, the MVP favorite ended up a sideshow as nastiness took center stage as the Panthers (14-0) pushed the Giants (6-8) closer to a fourth straight year out of the playoffs.

People aren't going to remember either Graham Gano's decisive 43-yard field goal as time expired or the Giants rallying from a 35-7 third-quarter deficit to tie the game on Eli Manning's fourth touchdown of the game, a 14-yarder to Beckham with 1:46 to play.

All that people are going to remember are the frequent run-ins between Beckham and Norman, who time and again tangled in the contest at MetLife Stadium, and it was ugly: pushing, shoving, swinging, late hits, helmet-to-helmet contact and a lot of trash talking.

The worst was Beckham charging from his own sideline to hit Norman with a diving, head-to-head block attempt.

Beckham was flagged for a personal foul, one of three he picked up in the game.

Norman called Beckham immature and felt he should have been ejected.

"The guy ran 15 yards down the field - a dead on collision," Norman said. "The play was all the way on the left side. He came back and was hunting; and it was malicious in every way. I hope the league offices get a chance to review the film and see what they can do, because players like that don't deserve to be in the game. I mean it's ridiculous."

Beckham, who dropped a certain touchdown pass on the opening series, refused to discuss his run-in with Norman, skirting the questions by saying the loss was unfortunate.

Ask about the personal fouls, he said, "You never want to hurt your team like that. I have learned it all throughout my life you know, always second man gets called, always, that it is just unfortunate."

A frustrated coach Tom Coughlin said Beckham lost his composure, adding he seriously considered taking his star receiver out of the game to calm him down. He didn't.

"He's got to learn at some point how to deal with some things on the field," Coughlin said.

NFL spokesman Michael Signora said disqualifying players is a judgment made by the on-field officials.

"The actions of the players involved in unsportsmanlike conduct will be reviewed as per the standard protocol that is followed in all situations of this type throughout the season," he said.

It all took away from what turned into a very good football game.