‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Winners and losers as New York Giants fall to New Orleans Saints

Who played well, who didn’t, and who helped both teams?

The New York Giants lost another game they coulda/woulda/should won on Sunday, falling to the New Orleans Saints, 14-11. The Giants are now 1-7 in one-score games and 1-8 in games decided by 10 points or less this season.

Let’s get to the ‘Kudos & Wet Willies.’

Kudos to …

Banner guy … Giants fans — A small plane circled MetLife Stadium multiple times prior to Sunday’s game carrying the following message: “Mr. Mara — Plz fix this dumpster fire.” Not every fan has the disposable income to hire a plane to express their frustration with the Giants, but I’m sure few would disagree.

Credit to the fans who showed up, and who have sat through this season. There were, by the way, fans with bags over their heads on Sunday at MetLife.

By the way, here is a look at available tickets on StubHub about an hour before kickoff on Sunday:

Yes, you could have gotten a seat for $7! To an NFL game! Sad.

Brian Burns — The remaining veteran leader on the Giants’ defense had an impactful game. He had a sack/forced fumble, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.

“I’m gonna go regardless … it’s just not in me to lay down out there,” Burns said after the game.

Tre Hawkins — The second-year cornerback picked off a deep pass by Derek Carr intended for Kevin Austin Jr. in the third quarter. That ended the Giants’ NFL record 11-game interception drought, and was the first interception of the season by a Giants’ defensive back.

Jamie Gillan — The Giants punter averaged only 37.4 yards on seven punts, but he hit two spectacular punts — one that went out of bounds at the 2-yard line and a second that went out at the 8-yard line. He ended up with four punts downed inside the 20-yard line, and did not allow a single return yard.

Micah McFadden — Bobby who? With Bobby Okereke out, McFadden was the lone experienced inside linebacker the Giants had vs. the Saints, and he had a day. McFadden had 11 tackes, including an incredible five tackles for loss.

Giants’ no-name defensive line — Entering the game, it was easy to think the Giants were in a heap of trouble because of the injury-ravaged state of their defensive line. Star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence went on IR after suffering a Week 13 dislocated elbow. He was joined by rotational player D.J. Davidson. Veteran defensive tackle Armon Watts was already there. Rakeem Nunez-Roches missed the game with neck and shoulder injuries after suffering a stinger in Week 13.

Yet, the Giants had one of their best games of the season defending the run. New Orleans had just 92 total yards rushing on 33 carries (2.8 yards per attempt). Saints’ star running back Alvin Kamara had just 44 yards on 17 carries (2.6 yards per rush).

Undrafted free agent rookie Elijah Chatman and second-year man Jordon Riley started. They got considerable help from Cory Durden (three tackles, one for loss) and Elijah Garcia (five tackles).

“We gave it all we had to the very end,” Riley said. “It’s tough to lose like that, but I’m happy and proud how we played.

“We heard the noise. We had that chip on our shoulder. We knew we had to stop 41 (Kamara), we knew he was going to come in here and try to run the ball on us. We took that to heart and I feel like we showed that today in our play.”

Malik Nabers — Toughing it out with a painful hip injury suffered Thursday in practice, Nabers seemed like a decoy throughout most of the game. The talented rookie wide receiver had just one reception for 17 yards in the first half.

In the fourth quarter, though, with the Giants trying to claw back from a 14-3 deficit, Nabers came alive. He caught four passes in eight targets for 62 yards, and caught a 2-point conversion pass from Drew Lock. He finished with five catches in 10 targets for 79 yards, an average of 15.8 yards per reception.

The Jacksonville Jaguars — Thank you, Jags, for beating the Tennessee Titans and helping the Giants in their race to the best possible draft pick. The Jaguars now have three wins, allowing the Giants to move up to the No. 2 overall pick.

Daniel Bellinger — With Theo Johnson out for the year, Bellinger resurfaced in the Giants’ passing game. He might not be dynamic, but he is reliable. Bellinger caught five passes in seven targets for 45 yards.

Wet Willies to …

Special teams screw-ups — Special teams mistakes not only cost the Giants a relatively easy chance to tie the game in the final seconds on Sunday. In all, mistakes on special teams cost the Giants 13 points against the Saints — easily enough to have won the game.

Practice squad cornerback Greg Stroman was called for holding on a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter that would have given the Giants a 10-7 lead. The hold was on the opposite side of the field far away from return man Ihmir Smith-Marsette, but a penalty is a penalty. The Giants, who started at their own 49-yard line after the penalty, went three-and-out on offense.

Offensive lineman Jake Kubas, playing in his first NFL game, was involved in two fourth-quarter field-goal miscues that cost the Giants six points.

On fourth-and-2 at the New Orleans’ 30-yard line Graham Gano made a 48-yard field goal that would have cut the Saints’ lead to 14-6 with 13:47 remaining. Kubas, though, was called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, taking the points off the board and forcing the Giants to punt.

With 11 seconds left in the game, Bryan Bresee of New Orleans pushed Kubas down and jumped over the line to block the kick and win the game for the Saints.

“Had my hand down, they pushed down on the back of the shoulder pads, guy’s a good athlete, cleared us, cleared me, and made a play,” Kubas said.

This was not the way Kubas, an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota State, wanted his NFL debut to go.

“You never want to be the guy that’s responsible for plays like that,” Kubas said. “On the penalty I was just trying to finish a play as physically as I possibly could. That’s the way I play the game. They (the officials) told me it looked like I grabbed his legs … subjective call. It is what it is.”

Giants’ offense — Until well into the fourth quarter, the offense was completely inept. The Giants got three points in their seven first-half possessions, despite their worst starting field position being their own 32-yard line. Here are those seven possessions:

• Drive 1: Starting field position — New Orleans’ 48-yard line. Drive: Seven plays, 17 yards, turnover on downs.
• Drive 2: Starting field position — Giants’ 43-yard line. Drive: Three plays, 8 yards, punt.
• Drive 3: Starting field position — Giants’ 32-yard line. Drive: Three plays, 4 yards, punt.
• Drive 4: Starting field position — Giants’ 49-yard line. Drive: Seven plays, 26 yards, field goal.
• Drive 5: Starting field position — New Orleans’ 48-yard line. Drive: Three plays, 6 yards, punt.
• Drive 6: Starting field position — Giants’ 49-yard line. Drive: Three plays, 6 yards, punt.
• Drive 7: Starting field position — Giants’ 37-yard line: Drive: Five plays, 19 yards, punt.

I know the Giants were down to the backups to the backups at offensive tackle. I know that Nabers wasn’t 100%. That, though, is ridiculous. You have to be able to get more than 3 points out of that kind of field position.

Kwillies to …

Drew Lock — Lock is a rollercoaster. Maybe not to the extremes of Jameis Winston, but watching Lock play quarterback is an experience. There are risks, there are bad throws, there are bad decisions. But, there is toughness, there is arm talent, there is creativity and there are moments of brilliance.

Lock went 21 of 49 (42.8%) for 227 yards with an interception and completed 2-point conversion pass on a ricochet. He threw some insanely off-target balls. Yet, he threw several catchable balls his receivers did not haul in.

Lock ran five times for a team-high 59 yards, sometimes running himself into hits, sometimes scrambling for spectacular first downs, sometimes taking circuitous routes to wherever he was going that cost him yardage.

Like I said, he’s a rollercoaster. At least, though, he is entertaining.