The New York Giants lost 27-20 to the Green Bay Packers in Week 11. Despite out-gaining Green Bay 336-296 yards and out-possessing the 35:56-24:04 the 2-9 Giants earned their ninth loss of the season, and their fifth in a row. We didn’t receive the whole Jameis Winston experience, for the wind and conditions at MetLife Stadium stifled the deep passing attack. Still, Winston did provide several clutch throws, while also putting the football in harm’s way a few times.
Winston almost threw two interceptions to Carrington Valentine, who was the outside corner squating on the No. 2 receiver’s out-breaking route. Winston also targeted a deep seam that was double-covered to Jalin Hyatt, which appeared to be predetermined. Then there was a back-breaking interception that we’ll discuss in a bit. Overall, Jameis Winston did enough to give the Giants a chance to win against a quality defense. Still, he finished 19 of 29 for 201 yards with a rushing touchdown and two turnovers.
The Packers were without Jordan Love for part of the first half, and star running back Josh Jacobs left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter. Interim head coach Mike Kafka was aggressive and, according to his post-game interview, he was planning on going for the win with a two-point conversion if the Giants scored at the end of the game. New York did not receive that opportunity. Here are five noteworthy plays from the Giants’ loss.
Play 1: The interception
Jameis Winston is known for a lot. His entertaining and bubbly personality is coupled with a gunslinger mindset that can light up a scoreboard. However, he’s also known for putting the football into precarious situations; he did it on a few occasions in Week 11. It’s easy to assign blame to Winston when an interception is thrown, but Jalin Hyatt did no favors for his quarterback here:
With 40 seconds left in the game, on a third-and-6 down seven points, Hyatt stopped his route, and Winston threw a corner route to a Green Bay Packers’ defensive back. Valentine (24), who had outside responsibility, sat on Wan’Dale Robinson’s (17) stick route, giving Hyatt (13) the one-on-one against safety Evan Williams (33). Williams did well to read through the stick route and to Winston’s eyes, but the quarterback perhaps believed that Hyatt would be in position to undercut the safety. Hyatt broke his route off, and Williams was the only possible recipient for the football.
Play 2: Savion Williams for 33 yards
The Giants had a 15-play, 85-yard drive that took just under eight minutes off the clock at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Winston found Tyrone Tracy Jr. on a third-and-5 for 20 yards; Theo Johnson on a third-and-7 for 14 yards; and completed a fourth-and-2 pass to Isaiah Hodgins for a first down — his second fourth-down conversion of the game. Winston tush-pushed himself for six to give the Giants a one-point lead.
After that drive, Love faced a third-and-10 where he somehow found Savion Williams (83) for 33 yards over Cor’Dale Flott (28). Love had a reasonable amount of time to throw the football on the play, but eventually, Brian Burns looped underneath into the pocket to hit Love, who just released the football on time. This was a massive gain and play for the Green Bay Packers. According to ESPN Analytics, the Giants’ chances to win went from a 53% to a 31% chance after this play.
Play(s) 3: Finish the drive!
Later in the drive, Love delivered this absolute dime to Christian Watson (8) for the 17-yard touchdown:
From the far-hash, Love places the football perfectly to allow Watson to secure the football over Korie Black. Dane Belton (24) was a step behind Watson, and the throw had to be perfect. Watson secured his second touchdown of the game in good coverage; here’s his first from Malik Willis (2):
Tae Banks (2) is in good coverage on Watson. Exceptional job by Willis to see Watson, and the ball was almost knocked away by Flott, who was covering another receiver. This was a massive third-and-GOAL play early in the game that could have changed the outcome of the game if the ball had bounced differently.
Play(s) 4: Start of 2nd half
The Giants and Packers were tied heading into halftime, 13-13, but Green Bay broke that tie with a quick six-play drive that ended with a 2-yard Josh Whyle touchdown grab:
The Packers use a legal pick to knock Jevon Holland (8) off his assignment with pre-snap motion, switching the assignment to Holland right at the snap. The Packers got down the field so quickly because, two plays before the touchdown, Dane Belton was guilty of a 35-yard defensive pass interference penalty against rookie Matthew Golden. That put the football at the Giants’ 3-yard line.
Whyle secured the touchdown and the Giants proceeded on a sixteen-play, 56-yard drive that took just under 10 minutes off the clock — that drive ended with zero points.
Play(s) 5: Turnover on downs
On the aforementioned 16-play, 56-yard drive, the Giants went for it on fourth down three times and failed on the final attempt with Winston suffering a sack on a fourth-and-3 from the Green Bay 10-yard line. It’s tough to come away with ZERO points after a drive like that, especially after surrendering six points on the previous drive. However, the Giants’ defense stood tall and forced a three-and-out, allowing the Giants offense to lead a 15-play, 85-yard drive that ended with Winston’s touchdown rush.
I’m not chastizing Kafka for the decision; the kicking game was unreliable in the wind, and Younghoe Koo had already missed an extra point, albeit from 48 yards. I’m highlighting how another tight game and a fourth-quarter lead were squandered. Kafka’s first challenge of Josh Jacobs going out of bounds deserves more criticism, as it seemingly prevented the Giants from challenging the third-and-3 Wan’Dale Robinson play against Xavier McKinney.
Nevertheless, despite the turnover on downs at the Green Bay 10-yard line, the Giants assumed a one-point lead that they then capitulated due to a costly Dane Belton penalty and several crucial situations where the Packers MADE PLAYS and the Giants failed to finish. And that all culminated in “Play 1” where a receiver — who the Giants have done everything to not play — fails to finish a route that ends up in a costly interception. This team still makes bad errors and struggles to finish in high-leverage situations — the coaching change did not rid the team of that mode of operation after just one week.
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