The New York Giants lost a close home game to the Washington Commanders, 24-21. New York’s defense forced two interceptions in the fourth quarter — with a four-point lead— but the Giants’ offense went three-and-out on both drives, resulting in an opportunistic Washington score that secured the win for the Commanders.
John Harbaugh used the apt word “disappointing” to describe the loss. New York was on the precipice of a commanding lead in the NFC East, but Washington now owns the tiebreaker between
the two teams, even though New York leads the standings by two games. Losing home games in the division is tough, and something that’s very familiar to Giants fans, unfortunately.
Still, the Giants do lead the division and have a tough stretch of opponents remaining on their schedule. They have two home games against the Jaguars and the 49ers in the next three weeks (a game against the Colts in between), as well as a trip out to Seattle. This season is FAR from over, but a win against Washington would have been a welcome, comfortable result. Here are five plays that led to the loss.
Play(s) 1: Three-play sequence
This was a three-play sequence in the fourth quarter where EACH side of the football failed miserably. Firstly, the defense shouldn’t bear much blame for this loss; they forced two interceptions and a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter. It’s the offense that couldn’t pick up a yard and was stopped multiple times on third down when it mattered most, but I digress back to my point…
The third-and-3 quarterback sweep where Sonny Styles tackled J.J. McCarthy for a loss of two was the first of this terrible sequence:
Ar’Darius Washington intercepted Daniels with 2:19 left on the clock; 29 seconds later, the Giants are punting after three offensive plays for the second consecutive drive after an interception. I don’t like the call at all, but the failed third-down conversion attempt was made much worse by a rare terrible moment from punter Jordan Stout.
Stout punted the football 12 YARDs from Washington’s 41-yard line to their 29 — an inexcusable mistake. New York couldn’t consider a 58-yard field goal attempt from Dominic Zvada, who missed a 33-yarder on New York’s second drive, so special teams’ unreliability compounded the problem, and this punt gave Washington solid field position.
The third play, though, WAS on the defense. Tae Banks committed a defensive pass interference against Treylon Burks, which gave Washington the ball at the New York 38-yard line with a minute and a half to go in the 21-17 Giants’ game. Two plays later, the game was 24-21, Washington.
Play 2: Stefon Diggs
The Giants forced a third-and-4 with just over a minute left in the game, and New York rushed seven, initially, dropping two defensive linemen off a half-second after the snap. Jaydon Daniels threw it right past the Giants’ defensive lineman to Stefon Diggs (3), who had inside leverage against Dru Phillips (22). Phillips fell and took out Tae Banks (2), allowing Diggs to walk into the end zone. The Giants capitulated the lead after several fourth-quarter plays that gave them opportunities to seal the victory. New York received the football back, though…
Play 3: Game-sealing interception
Washington ran Cover-0 on this third-and-10 with 33 seconds left in the game. J.J. McCarthy (18) had to heave the ball under pressure, taking a big hit in the process. New York was attempting to hit Malik Nabers (1) on the slot fade against Amik Robertson (2). Isaiah Likely (9) ran a quick curl and Malachi Fields (88) stayed on the line of scrimmage, which — in theory — would have given the Giants a true one-on-one matchup with Nabers against Robertson, but Rasual Douglas (29) had something else planned.
Douglas played off Fields with an inside turn, looking through the No.2 and No. 3 receivers (inner receivers, Nabers and Likely). Robertson read McCarthy and carried Nabers vertical, giving Robertson support on the outside. The ball was underthrown and thrown with a high trajectory, which allowed Douglas to squeeze Nabers’ slot vertical; in doing so, he undercut the route and intercepted the pass.
Washington made a wise play by having Douglas play at depth and leverage to read Nabers’ route and help his teammate on the vertical, despite being assigned to Fields. It’s also something the Giants can learn from. Washington knew this from tape study, since New York runs the same slot-fade with the outside receiver staying put on the line of scrimmage.
Play 4: Dominic Zvada continues to struggle
The Giants had two solid offensive drives to start the game. On their first drive, New York punted from the Washington 42-yard line after taking a delay of game on a fourth-and-7 from the 37-yard line. They played the game of field position and did not attempt a 54-yard field goal. The Giants then got Zvada into a position to hit a 33-yard field goal, and the rookie kicker missed it wide left. It’s just inexcusable.
TWO solid Giants’ drives yield ZERO points because of the kicker, with one ending in the 33-yard miss above. John Harbaugh provided confidence to the media when discussing Zvada after the game, but these missed kicks by Giants’ kickers are an all-too-familiar occurrence that is now persisting with the undrafted rookie kicker out of Michigan.
Play(s) 5: End of first half
The Giants ended their first half by surrendering a nine-play, 67-yard drive that ended in this 1-yard touchdown catch by Ben Sinnott:
All three of Washington’s touchdowns were on third down for Washington: the Ben Sinnott and Stefon Diggs’ ones above, and the 31-yarder to Antonio Williams. The one to Sinnott, though, was in the final seconds of the first half. The Giants’ defense surrendered the drive, and Washington bled the clock perfectly to not provide the Giants an opportunity to drive down the field for points. It was excellently handled by Washington.
BONUS
An unfortunate bonus play makes the cut here. New York scored a touchdown on their first drive of the second half after the Giants’ defense responded to the end of the first half with a three-and-out that lost 15 yards—wow! Unfortunately, Washington had an answer with a third-and-1 31-yard strike to Antonio Williams. that gave Washington a 17-14 lead.
New York, though, drove the football down the field on a five-play, 53-yard drive, with a big 16-yard catch to Malachi Fields on a second-and-seven. McCarthy then completed a pass to Nabers for three-yards on a second-and-12 at the Washington 19-yard line, and Nabers allowed the ball to get punched out of his grasp.
It was a red zone trip that ended in a turnover. Luckily the Giants’ defense forced a three-and-out, but New York’s offense punted the football — yet again — from Washington’s territory.
