The Giants turned certain victory into harrowing defeat in their 13-10 overtime loss to the Jets. In a game that might have sent offensive football back 50 years — the teams combined to go 4-for-33 on third down, for goodness sakes — it was the Giants who came away feeling as if they completely gave away a gift to their crosstown rivals.
Here is a look back at a few areas and incidents that were most noteworthy and, in come cases, also cringe-worthy:
— How about a little gamesmanship down the stretch? The Jets needed every second they could get after Zach Wilson, with 17 seconds remaining in regulation, connected with Allen Lazard on a 29-yard completion. Why was there no Giants defender trying to sit on top of Lazard or slow him down after he completed the catch? That is a common tactic with smart and savvy defensive players. It cannot be blatant but the Giants were under no obligation to rush to their feet for the next snap and all-but escort Lazard back to the line of scrimmage.
As it was, Wilson hurried down the field and was able to spike the ball one second left, just enough time for Greg Zuerlein’s 35-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. Allowing the long completion was a brutal defensive breakdown. Allowing Lazard to spring up to his feet was also uninspiring by the Giants.
— Saquon Barkley’s most impressive feats the past three games are his stamina and durability. He ran it a career-high 36 times in the overtime loss. He returned after missing three games with a high ankle sprain and played 60 of the 77 offensive snaps in the loss to the Bills, getting the ball 24 times. There was no easing Barkley back in. He had 21 rushing attempts in the 14-7 victory over the Commanders. In the past three games since returning from the ankle injury Barkley has logged 175 snaps and 81 rushing attempts, both leading all NFL running backs in that span of time.
This puts significant wear-and-tear on anyone’s body, even those bodies, like Barkley’s, built like a tank. This is even more reason why Barkley should have accepted the three-year contract offers the Giants put out there at the bye week last season and this past spring. He is playing on a one-year deal for $10.1 million and will not reach the incentives that would have pushed the total money to $11 million because the Giants will not make the playoffs. Barkley was offered guarantees of slightly more than $22 million and turned down the offers.
The Giants can put the franchise tag on him in 2024 and that would pay Barkley around $12.2 million. There is no guarantee they will do that, though, and the only certainty with Barkley is that he is incredibly valuable to the team and that he is taking a beating in these games, and those beatings do not increase the earning potential of running backs.
— It was a rookie, Deonte Banks, following gifted wide receiver Garrett Wilson all over the field, an assignment usually given to veteran Adoree’ Jackson. That says a great deal about defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s trust in Banks and also how far Jackson has fallen, in the eyes of the coaching staff. Banks did a credible job. Wilson was targeted 13 times and caught seven passes for 100 yards. Did Banks get the better of Wilson? No. Did Wilson wreck the game? No. The most significant moment for Wilson came when he hauled in a pass for a 29-yard gain in the waning seconds of regulation. The Giants were not in their regular defense for that closing series; they were back in a prevent-style defense and thus Banks was not directly assigned to Wilson.
As for Jackson, he played 50 snaps on defense and his worst one, by far, was the dreadful pass interference penalty that handed the Jets 30 yards and put them in range for Zuerlein’s game-winning 33-yard field goal. Jackson played the ball in the air incredibly poorly, running into Malik Taylor, a practice squad wide receiver who should not have posed a great threat. Jackson also did not distinguish himself when he gave up a 29-yard pass completion to Lazard down the stretch of regulation.
If any team out there wants Jackson, there is every reason to believe he is available with Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline looming. The Giants undoubtedly will have to eat some of the $6.7 million remaining on Jackson’s contract to part ways with him.
— Kayvon Thibodeaux was listed as questionable entering the game with a knee issue. Yet he played 62 of the 64 snaps on defense and was a dominant force, with three sacks, nine tackles, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and one forced fumble. He was a one-man wrecking crew.
Thibodeaux did not have a sack in the first two games this season and now has 8.5 sacks in the last six games. He is on pace for 18 sacks in year No. 2 with the Giants. Jason Pierre-Paul in his second year with the Giants had 16.5 sacks in 2011. That turned out to be his career high. Where does Thibodeaux go from here? The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft is already doing big things.
— Now that Daniel Jones has been medically cleared for contact, a crisis is averted when it comes to who starts at quarterback this Sunday against the Raiders in Las Vegas. Jones should be able to return, after missing three consecutive games, as long as he feels fine this week in practice.
The Giants still need to explain why they put themselves in such a vulnerable position with their quarterback depth. They have Jones and Tyrod Taylor on the roster and Tommy DeVito on the practice squad. With Jones out, Taylor moved into the starting role and DeVito was elevated the past three games to serve as the backup. When Taylor was forced out in the second quarter with an injury to his rib cage, DeVito made his NFL debut.
Clearly, coach Brian Daboll and the coaching staff did not trust DeVito to do much more than to hand the ball off to Barkley. The Giants had 32 offensive plays in the second half and overtime and DeVito attempted only four passes. Barkley ran it 25 times in that span. Sure, the Giants were clinging to a 10-7 lead, it was raining and Daboll wanted to minimize all risk that DeVito would lose the game with a turnover. Not having faith that the quarterback can execute anything other than a simple check-down pass is an indication the Giants needed to have a better option they could trust as their No. 3 quarterback.
