Leading by four points with just over two minutes left after intercepting Jayden Daniels twice in the span of five plays, the New York Giants somehow did not hold on and were dealt a stinging defeat in primetime by rival Washington.
"Every loss stings," top receiver Malik Nabers said Friday. “We're bummed out about the loss, but we continue to try to put it behind us."
Easier said than done. There's no mistaking this was a bad loss that brings the Giants
back to earth and back to the pack in the mediocre NFC East.
Instead of moving another step closer to running away with the division, they go into a brutal stretch of the schedule probably needing to pull off at least one upset to stave off the Commanders or Dallas Cowboys. Five of their next six opponents are above .500 and in the playoff hunt, starting with Jacksonville coming to town on Nov. 22 and including games at San Francisco and defending Super Bowl-champion Seattle.
“We don’t live in that scared world,” coach John Harbaugh said. “Every single one of these games is going to be a big challenge. Every single one of these games is going to be really hard to win. It’s hard winning. It’s tough to win football games in this league.”
Especially when you beat yourself. The list of transgressions Thursday night is long, though the most damning part was not being able to pick up a single first down between the time J.J. McCarthy and Isaiah Likely connected on a 66-yard touchdown that got the stadium's stands shaking and Daniels connecting with Stefon Diggs for the lead-changing TD that quieted the crowd.
A failed QB sneak by Jameis Winston — who then used “Who Let the Dogs Out” as his cadence to try to get the defense to jump offside on fourth down — ended one drive, and McCarthy not even getting back to the line of scrimmage on a designed run halted another. All-Pro punter Jordan Stout then picked a bad time for his first shank of the season, booting the ball a whole 12 yards.
All of it made for some fine Friday morning quarterbacking in hindsight.
"I’ll probably second-guess all those," Harbaugh said, even wondering about fourth and 1 from his own 11-yard line with three and a half minutes left. “I’m kind of kicking myself. Maybe we should have just gone for that one, too.”
The defense is forcing turnovers at a consistent rate. The interceptions by Jevon Holland and Ar'Darius Washington were the first two Daniels has thrown all season, coming on his 208th and 211th passing attempts.
Ball security remains an issue. Nabers fumbled for the first time in his NFL career, a costly mistake in the third quarter.
“You’re thinking about plays that could have been a difference in the game, and that could have been one of those,” Nabers said. “We were in the red zone, could have got a field goal or a touchdown and sadly went away just off a mistake that I made.”
Cam Skattebo ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, showing he can handle the workload of a No. 1 running back.
Rookie kicker Dominic Zvada missed a 33-yard field goal attempt, making him 8 of his last 14 after starting 9 of 9. The Giants are expected to keep him around through the growing pains.
“There was a technique issue there with his plant foot that we’re kind of looking at,” Harbaugh said. “He needs to clean that up from a consistency standpoint. He knows that.”
Acknowledging Jaxson Dart, Brian Burns, Braxton Berrios and Tremaine Edmunds are all out for the season, the active roster has no lingering concerns, according to Harbaugh.
10 — Net yards gained by the Giants between taking the lead early in the fourth quarter and the Commanders scoring to go up 24-21.
After two games in five days, get away for a weekend and let other teams play football.
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