The Giants' most explosive offensive player won't be on the field this week when New York travels to Minnesota.

The NFL officially announced on Monday that Odell Beckham Jr. has been suspended one game for his actions during the second half of the Giants' 38-35 loss to Carolina. Specifically, Beckham was suspended for multiple violations of safety-related playing rules.

In a statement, NFL Vice President of Football Operations Merton Hanks noted that Beckham's actions, "placed his opponents at unnecessary risk of injury and should have been avoided."

Due to the suspension, Beckham won't be allowed to attend any team function or practice this week. The wide receiver is also not allowed to show up at the Giants practice facility until the suspension is lifted on Dec. 28.

Here's four more things to know about Beckham's suspension:

1. Why did the NFL suspend Beckham? Beckham pretty much forced the NFL's hand after an ugly third quarter where the Giants receiver was flagged three times for unnecessary roughness with two of those penalties coming on the same drive.

Beckham probably would've been hit with just a fine if he had only been called for the three penalties, but the NFL also had to take something else into consideration: A direct helmet-to-helmet shot, which you can see below.

The hit was especially bad because Beckham wasn't involved with the play. The Giants receiver basically hunted down Norman and then went directly for his head and obviously, the NFL can't tolerate a player making a play like that.

The league specifically noted that play in its statement about Beckham's punishment.

"This 'blindside block' was particularly flagrant because Beckham, with a 10-yard running start, had an unobstructed path to his opponent, the position of the opponent was not impacted by any other player, and the contact with the head/neck was avoidable," the leagues statement said.

The ugliness wasn't only limited to the third quarter, though. Beckham and Norman basically went at it the entire game. 

2. How badly does Beckham's suspension hurt the Giants? The suspension comes at horrible time for the Giants, who are in the middle of a heated division race. At 6-8, New York sits one game behind Washington (7-7) in the NFC East.

If the Giants lose to the Vikings without Beckham on Sunday and the Redskins win, then the Giants would officially be eliminated from playoff contention.

Winning without Beckham won't be easy either. The wide receiver is Eli Manning's favorite target and leads the Giants in receiving with 1,396 yards and 13 touchdowns this year. Beckham has doubled the output of any other receiver on the roster: No other Giants receiver has more than 650 yards or six touchdowns in 2015.

3. Is there any way Beckham plays on Sunday? Beckham is appealing the suspension and if he wins, he'd be eligible to play on Sunday against Minnesota. The NFL knows what the situation is and won't make the Giants wait long to learn Beckham's fate. The appeal is expected to be heard and ruled upon by Wednesday.

4. Can Beckham actually win his appeal? This is where things get dicey. The Giants firmly side with Beckham and feel that his actions against Norman were justified because of several things that happened before the two teams kicked off on Sunday.

CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora has reported that the Giants believe Beckham was physically threatened by the Panthers before the two team's kicked off on Sunday. Those threats included a baseball bat being pointed in his direction.

The Giants also believe that a group of Panthers players used homophobic slurs against Beckham, although the Panthers have strongly denied that any of that happened.

However, if the NFL finds any evidence that Beckham was threatened with a baseball bat or if the league finds any evidence that the Panthers made homophobic slurs, then Beckham might get some empathy from the league and his suspension could get overturned.

For more, check out what Brady Quinn, Pete Prisco and Pat Kirwan have to say on the situation on the Roughing the Passer podcast. Quinn's take is interesting because this incident could change the way opposing players treat Beckham now.