The New York Giants did not leave Los Angeles with much. They did leave with a kicker who just made a 52-yarder and a punter who can flip a field in one swing, and that is where Chris Horton started.
Two weeks into the season, the assistant head coach/special teams coordinator said his young specialists are getting the game reps they need, competing at a high level and doing the right things. Dominic Zvada supplied every Giants point in Monday night’s 28-6 loss to the Rams, hitting from 24 yards late in the first half and from 52 in the third quarter.
“From the day we got him here, always believed in him, and just needed to get him out there to get him those opportunities,” Horton told reporters on Wednesday. “And we know who he is, he knows who he is.
And so, it was very encouraging to get him out there in a game setting and let him kick that 52-yard field goal.”
Horton was just as direct about what the kick does not change.
“Again, he does not lack confidence,” Horton said. “I think when you get young guys, sometimes they just have to go out there and they have to do it, right? And they have to do it enough for them to be like, you know what, I belong. And he belongs. And he’s just got to go out there and continue to be consistent. Consistency is everything that is a part of his game and as long as he’s consistent and he plays, he continues to do the things that he needs to do, starting in practice, and then carrying those things over to the game, he’s going to be fine.”
Jordan Stout is the other half of that battery. Horton said the punter’s ability to flip the field has been outstanding, including 70-plus-yard boots and one that approached 80. That only works if the rest of the unit lets it work.
“You can’t allow him to do the things that he does if you don’t allow your punt coverage, also those other guys to work,” Horton said. “Situationally, we’re just allowing him to be who he is, and it just starts with everybody understanding what kind of punter we have. We protect the punt, and then we need all-out effort. That’s from all the other 10 guys.”
Horton tied both performances to a larger shift. After two weeks, he said the group is starting to believe in the process and in what is being coached. Those details, he said, are starting to show up on the tape.
The night still had situational scars. The touchback after Zvada’s first-half field goal was not the call.
“I think he was a little excited, but we want to cover kicks, and we get an opportunity in that situation,” Horton said. “If we can, we want to put the ball in play to kill some time there.”
On Braxton Berrios’ fair catch at the 5-yard line, Horton said the Giants typically do not want the ball caught inside the five. Berrios had two players down there, which could have made the one-yard line even worse. What Horton liked was the response. The unit made it right by flipping the field.
Sunday’s home game against the Tennessee Titans comes with a nor’easter in the forecast. Horton will not pretend practice can copy that.
“We can’t replicate the weather, but what we can do is trust our process,” he said. “And that process has taken us up until this point.”
Through two weeks, the specialists have been a big reason Horton is willing to keep trusting it.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' young specialists giving Chris Horton something to build on
