As they have been on a number of occasions this season, the New York Giants were close to a victory on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. They held a one-point lead with 7:22 to play. As usual, though, the Giants could not hang on.
Let’s go through the ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ from Sunday’s disappointing 27-20 loss.
Kudos to …
Taking the ball — I loved Mike Kafka’s decision to take the ball when the Giants won the coin toss. I hate deferring, no matter what the analytics say. Take the ball, try to get the lead
and play from in front. That’s exactly what the Giants, going 65 yards in 10 plays on their opening drive to gain a 7-0 lead.
Mike Kafka — The interim head coach said he wanted aggression from his players, and he showed that in the way he conducted his first game as an NFL head coach.
- Kafka disciplined rookie edge defender Abdul Carter.
- The head coach, calling offensive plays, went for it on fourth-down four times. Three of those were on one drive.
- Kafka said he would have gone for two if the Giants had scored a touchdown in the final two minutes when they were behind 27-20.
- An insistence on pounding the ball with the running game led to a 38-carry, 142-yard day that saw the Giants dominate the time of possession, 35:56-24:04.
- Kafka took the ball rather deferring, which has become standard, when the Giants won the coin toss. That enabled the Giants to jump to an early 7-0 lead.
- Kafka lost an early challenge, but there was no issue with the mechanics of his first-ever challenge.
All-in-all, good work from Kafka in his first game putting his stamp on how the Giants operate.
Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary — I am lumping both backs together. Tracy had his best game of the season with 19 carries for 88 yards (4.7 per carry) and four catches for 51 yards. He turned what looked like a disastrous third-and-12 screen pass for a 20-yard gain to help set up a second-quarter touchdown. He also took a fourth-quarter third-and-5 screen pass 20 yards to set up the Giants’ final touchdown, which put them ahead 20-19.
Singletary had just 44 yards on 16 carries, but he had two touchdowns and a 2-yard run on a fourth-and-1 in Giants’ territory in the first half.
Brian Burns — The veteran edge defender just keeps on producing. He had two sacks on Sunday, giving him a career-high 13.0 with six games remaining. Burns also had five tackles (two for loss), four quarterback hits and a pass batted down.
Jameis Winston — This might be generous since Green Bay defenders dropped four passes by Winston that could have been interceptions, but the veteran quarterback did enough to have the Giants in position to win a game against a better team. Winston finished 19 of 29 for 201 yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown.
Isaiah Hodgins — The veteran wide receiver rejoined the Giants on Thursday after being signed off the Pittsburgh Steeler’s practice squad. With only two practices under his belt, Hodgins caught five passes for 57 yards (19.6 per catch). Maybe, just maybe, if it had been Hodgins running the corner route Winston was intercepted on at the end of the game instead of Jalin Hyatt the outcome would have been different. There is a ton of value in a possession-type receiver who does the simple things, run the correct routes and catch the football.
Theo Johnson — The big tight end had just three catches for 36 yards, but they were all important. Two of the catches went for first downs and the third came when he picked up 11 yards on a third-and-13 in the fourth quarter. That put the Giants in position to go for it on fourth-and-2. They converted, and ended scoring a go-ahead touchdown.
Wet Willies to …
Giants’ run defense — Of course. The run defense was typically atrocious. Green Bay ran for 128 yards on 23 carries, 5.6 yards per carry. They did most of that without star running back Josh Jacobs, who carried seven times for 40 yards before leaving the game with a knee injury.
Shane Bowen — The Giants have now blown five leads this season, four of those late in games. Granted, the first four were leads of double digits, but this was still a blown lead. The Giants had a 20-19 lead with 7:22 to play.
Jalin Hyatt — The third-year wide receiver got a big opportunity on Sunday with Darius Slayton out of the lineup and with Brian Daboll home on his couch. He had two receptions in four targets, but Hyatt might have been at fault on Jameis Winston’s interception in the final minute. Drew Brees thinks he was. I think he was. You decide for yourself:
Hyatt also seemed to blame himself after the game:
Abdul Carter — I don’t know what Carter’s infraction was, but he got benched for the first defensive series. He also had another quiet game without much impact. Spin it however you want, and blame Bowen if you must, but the Giants are not getting what they hoped to get of the No. 3 overall pick in the draft.
Kwillies to …
Deonte Banks — This might be a weekly Kwillie. Banks is a terrible cornerback, but a really good kickoff returner. He had two returns of more than 30 yards on Sunday and averaged 27.0 yards on four returns.
Cor’Dale Flott — The Giants were dealt a blow before the game when Paulson Adebo, expected to return to the lineup after missing three games, felt discomfort in his knee during warm-ups and was declared out.
Flott, the team’s best remaining cornerback, had some nice plays, but still gave up four receptions in eight targets for 72 yards. On Green Bay’s game-winning drive, Flott could not prevent a floating third-and-10 pass to Savion Williams from being completed for a 33-yard gain that set up the touchdown.
