The Giants know that smart football beats big box-score numbers.
Their winning formula for overachieving was used against them Saturday in a 27-24 loss to the favored Vikings in Minneapolis.
Blame the offense for an uncharacteristic two turnovers after the Giants had crossed midfield and some other crossed wires. Blame the defense for a dropped interception on a drive that ended with the Vikings scoring the go-ahead touchdown, and for an ill-timed blitz that allowed a big play. Blame the special teams for a blocked punt by Minnesota. Blame all units for seven combined penalties.
In a complete reversal of what the Giants have been about during a surprise push to the cusp of the playoffs, they filled up the offensive box score for 445 yards, but came away ruing a handful of miscues and zero takeaways and lost on a last-second 61-yard field goal.
“You can’t have those mistakes,” head coach Brian Daboll said.
The most obvious can’t-haves were:
Rookie cornerback Cor’Dale Flott undercut a pass to Adam Thielen and celebrated his first career interception to protect a 13-10 third-quarter lead. Except replay review showed that Flott did not complete the catch to the ground. The Vikings capitalized on the overturned call by scoring for a 17-13 lead.
“We didn’t play a clean game,” safety Julian Love said. “That’s what these [December] games come down to.”
Jamie Gillan’s punt on a fourth-and-5 with 4:10 remaining was blocked and turned into a short-field touchdown that extended the Vikings’ lead to 24-16. Josh Metellus knocked over long snapper Casey Kreiter and came right down the middle at Gillan’s extended leg. It looked as if Gillan took an extra split-second to get the ball off — perhaps still thinking about his accidental drop-kick fumble that cost the Giants against the Eagles two weeks ago.
Rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger lost a fumble at the end of a 16-yard catch and run down to the Vikings’ 23-yard line in the first half.
Later, on a second-and-6 from the Vikings’ 40-yard line, Daniel Jones tested future Hall of Famer Patrick Peterson one too many times and was intercepted.
“The fumble took away three points, the interception took away three points,” Daboll said. “That’s a minimum.”
A couple of other miscues that might not be as obvious: Richie James, who totaled catches for 90 yards, dropped a third-down pass and didn’t know what route to run on another third down that led Jones to scramble and caused Daboll to erupt on the sideline.
Aggressive defensive coordinator Wink Martindale sent a blitz on third-and-11 with 19 seconds remaining, leaving too many defenders chasing the ball as Justin Jefferson turned a screen into a 17-yard gain to set up the winning field goal.
“I think Wink had a good plan and mixed it up,” Daboll said. “They made a few more plays than we did.”
Love said the Giants thought they had tackled Jefferson before what the scouting report said was the yard line needed to attempt a field goal.
“You can go, ‘Oh man, if we tackled one or two yards sooner,’ but we have to win that situation,” Love said. “For sure, it’s frustrating.”
