Yes, the Giants ended up playing their fourth quarterback of the season on Sunday
Yes, we have to go through the formality of our ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ review of the New York Giants’ 35-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. So, let’s just get this over with.
Kudos to …
Banner guy — Whoever is hiring the planes to fly over MetLife Stadium deserves credit for persistence. This is two weeks in a row a plane has been hired to fly over the stadium pre-game to beg co-owner John Mara to make changes.
Micah McFadden — The third-year linebacker continues to show impressive development. He had 11 tackles (seven solo), a sack and a quarterback hit on Sunday.
A plane with a message for Giants owner John Mara is flying above MetLife Stadium for the second straight week.
— Ed Valentine (@edvalentine.bsky.social) 2024-12-15T16:28:26.662Z
Tim Boyle — The journeyman quarterback was forced into action in the second half after Tommy DeVito suffered a concussion. He actually played pretty well, injecting a bit of life into the passing attack.
Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said the team’s wide receivers had never caught live passes from Boyle, who has been on and off the roster a couple of times since the Giants waived Daniel Jones before their Week 12 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Today was definitely a whole lot different. Not really catching one live pass, ever from Tim,” Robinson said. “You got to go with the flow.
“It’s the NFL. Guys [have] got to step up and whoever may go down. Over on the side, it’s just like, hey, let’s catch a couple passes real quick and see what this ball comes out like and go from there.”
DeVito out with a concussion. Tim Boyle becomes the 4th Giants QB to throw a pass this season. Last happened in 1992 – Simms, Hostetler, Dave Brown, Kent Graham.
— Michael Eisen (@giantseisen) December 15, 2024
Boyle has been through this before.
“It’s December football. And I get that. It’s a lot of injuries, unfortunately. But I’ve been a part of it, so it’s not something I’m super foreign to,” he said. “But it’s in the job description of being a quarterback. You’ve got to be ready to go when your number’s called. It’s all hands on deck.”
Boyle finished 12 of 24 for 123 yards with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Malik Nabers and an interception.
The Giants’ five longest plays — a 25-yard pass to Robinson, the 23-yard touchdown to Nabers, a 17-yard completion to tight end Daniel Bellinger, and 16-yard passes to Nabers and Darius Slayton — were all completions by Boyle.
Malik Nabers — The young man deserves props. In a lost year when he obviously isn’t 100% and his talents are not being used to their fullest, Nabers is still being productive. He caught 10 passes in 14 targets for 82 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. He now has 90 receptions on the season.
Wet Willies to …
Giants’ special teams — The Giants gave up a 59-yard kickoff return to Justice Hill on the game’s opening play. A poor 37-yard Jamie Gillan punt was returned 22 yards by Desmond King to set up Baltimore’s first touchdown. A holding penalty negated a nice kickoff return by Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Greg Dulcich committed a block in the back penalty on another kickoff return.
At least Eric Gray didn’t fumble. Probably because was replaced on kickoff return by Dee Williams.
The substitute secondary — This one might be kind of unfair. Starting safety Tyler Nubin is on IR. None of the starting cornerbacks — Deonte Banks, Cor’Dale Flott, Dru Phillips — played. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, though, did what he wanted with Ravens wide receivers running wide open all day. Jackson completed 25 of 29 passes 290 yards and five touchdowns. Rashod Bateman had touchdown catches of 20 and 49 yards. The Giants simply are not fielding an NFL caliber secondary right now.
Kayvon Thibodeaux — The 2022 first-round pick didn’t even crack the stat sheet until there were 11 minutes left in the game, when he assisted on a tackle. That single assisted tackle was his only contribution. As depleted as the Giants are they need to get production from their best players. Something, anything. Games like this make you wonder if Thibodeaux is actually one of those “best” players.
Kwillies to …
Dane Belton — Had 14 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a pass defensed and a quarterback hit. Belton, though, was part of the secondary that got torched by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Adoree’ Jackson — The veteran cornerback stripped a scrambling Jackson and recovered the fumble on Baltimore’s opening drive. Again, though, he was part of a secondary that was mostly helpless to stop the Ravens’ passing attack.
