Giants-Commanders: 5 plays that led to the Giants’ loss

The plays, or sequences of plays, that made a difference

The New York Giants earned a 21-18 road loss against their divisional rival, the Washington Commanders on Sunday. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels easily matriculated the football through Shane Bowen’s defense. Let’s take a quick look at Washington’s punting stats:

Six Washington drives went for nine or more plays; Washington possessed the football for 15 more minutes and ran 18 more offensive plays than the Giants, for a total of 425 yards.

The Giants defense was downright bad in most regards other than allowing touchdowns. Washington did their darnedest to make it difficult on themselves, as they committed five false start penalties in the red zone. Nevertheless, they had a kicker; yes, a kicker — those valuable assets.

Washington’s kicker Austin Seibert accounted for all of the Commander’s points. He went 7 for 7 and secured the victory for his team. This, unfortunately, leads me into the first “play” that I begrudgingly must discuss:

Play 1: Prudence is a virtue

The 2023 season imploded due to failed calculated risks by this regime; young, inexperienced, offensive linemen in important roles, no tight end depth behind Waller/Bellinger, etc. I discussed these issues throughout the season.

Graham Gano, the Giants 37-year-old kicker, popped up on the injury report late in the week. Instead of promoting practice squad kicker, Jude McAtamney, or signing a kicker, they took a risk on Gano, who reportedly looked uncomfortable in pre-game warmups:

After the game, Brian Daboll stated that Gano’s original injury was his groin, and not his hamstring. Regardless, the Giants decided that the injury risk wasn’t worth carrying a second plackekicker. Unfortunately, Gano hurt his hamstring on the opening kickoff while chasing kickoff returner Austin Ekeler on a play that was eventually called back.

This rendered the Giants kicker-less, as punter Jamie Gillan missed his first extra point attempt. In a game where the defense was horrible, yet did not surrender a touchdown, the Giants could not kick any extra points or field goals, making them less flexible.

It’s perfectly reasonable to say the Giants would have won this football game if they had a healthy kicker. Of course, injuries happen in football, but there were enough warning signs to warrant a contingency plan that was not developed. Not elevating McAtamney, given the situation, seemed negligent before kickoff — and downright foolish one play into the game. The Giants choose to elevate linebacker Ty Summers and edge Tomon Fox. Ironically enough, mostly for special teams’ reasons. Sometimes rolling the dice isn’t worth it.

Play(s) 2: Defense outside of the red zone

The defense was downright dreadful outside of the red zone. Brian Robinson recorded 133 yards on 17 carries (7.8 YPC). New York capitulated 6.1 yards per carry on the day. Their run-fits were highly questionable in Week 1 and they remained an issue on Sunday.

There were several plays like the one above where the Giants forced a third-and-long, but Daniels’ legs helped Washington pick up a first or got them into fourth and very short. Daniels kept running on the Giants until he took this hit below:

Daniels finished 23 of 29 for 226 yards with 44 yards on 10 carries. The Giants could not get off the field on defense, and Seibert’s foot propelled Washington to victory, as the Giants possibly watch their season slip away after just two weeks.

Play 3: Noah Brown for 34

With the score tied at 18, the Giants were forced to try a fourth-down conversion at Washington’s 22-yard line. That’s roughly a 39-yard field goal attempt that wasn’t a feasible option, given the circumstances. The Giants dialed up a play and Jones executed well, but star wide receiver Malik Nabers — who was sensational all game — dropped the pass along the sideline.

Washington had 2:04 left to get into Seibert’s field goal range. At his point in the game, Seibert’s foot was still attached to his body. Daniels found Noah Brown for 34 yards on the second play of the drive.

Washington did not deviate from the success they so easily achieved outside of the red zone. Daniels got Seibert down to the Giants’ 12-yard line, and Washington earned their first victory in the Dan Quinn era.

Play 4: Singletary’s blunder

The Giants received the ball at the start of the second half with a three-point, 12-9, lead. Jones started the drive with a 19-yard connection to Darius Slayton. On second-and-13, Devin Singletary wisely bounced a run outside for a big gain, but failed to tuck the football in his outside arm, which allowed Jeremy Chinn to punch it loose:

Singletary looked great in the game other than this fumble, but the mistake zapped the energy from the Giants and set up a nine-play, 56-yard field goal drive. Jones went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, and Washington followed that with a nine-play, 55-yard field goal drive.

Offensive mistakes are catastrophic when the defense unravels. It places a burden of efficiency on the offense. That was compounded without a kicker.

Play 5: Positivity, perhaps?

It’s tough to be positive about the Giants right now. At least the Giants seem to have a star wide reciever:

He was the offense. The drop is unfortunate, but Nabers was great in the game. He finished with 10 catches on 18 targets for 127 yards with a touchdown. Here are a bunch of his highlights:

It was great to see Nabers used an an elite catalyst for this offense. It was also pleasant to see third-round pick Dru Phillips play well for a second consecutive week.

Phillips looks the part. It’s noteworthy that Tyler Nubin also looked comfortable and active in Week 1. If there’s any positive takeaways from this very disappointing pair of weeks, it’s the rookie class looks solid so far.