Admittedly, it can be hard to think straight after a wild game like the New York Giants’ 40-37 overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Let’s see how well I did as we review the game in our traditional ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ style.
Kudos to …
Regulation Russ — Russell Wilson was PHENOMENAL in regulation. His 450 passing yards were two short of his career high, set against the Houston Texans in 2017. Wilson was 30 of 41 and three 3 touchdown passes. He hit Malik Nabers with a perfectly thrown moon ball for a 48-yard score with :25 left that nearly won the game for New York. He had a 33-yard fourth-down touchdown strike to Wan’Dale Robinson. He had a 52-yard pass to Robinson.
Russ was cookin’. This was vintage Wilson, the kind of game that will quiet the “Jaxson Dart needs to start” narrative for a while.
Malik Nabers — This is what the second-year receiver can do when he has quarterback play that gives him a chance. Nabers had 9 receptions of 13 targets for 167 yards with touchdowns of 29 and 48 yards, the last one nearly winning the game for the Giants with :25 left as he hauled in a 48-yard strike despite tight coverage.
Wan’Dale Robinson — This was a career day for Robinson. Apparently, the 5-foot-8 Robinson CAN get deep and make big plays, something we have rarely seen in three-plus seasons. He just needs play calls that get him open and a quarterback who can drop the ball in the ball. He had those on Sunday.
Robinson finished with 8 receptions for a career-high 142 yards. He had catches of 50, 32 and 29 yards.
Brian Burns — The veteran edge defender was outstanding. He had a sack, a quarterback hit, two tackles, for loss, a pass defensed and three tackles.
Offensive line (other than James Hudson) — I was going to give a solo ‘Kudos’ to rookie Marcus Mbow, who took over at left tackle after Hudson imploded. He deserves one, because I don’t believe he was noticed at all the rest of the game. I think, though, the entire, much-maligned, line deserves praise.
Wilson was sacked three times and hit just six other times while throwing 41 passes. The Giants ran for 4.0 yards per carry, and the line plowed the road for a 1-yard Cam Skattebo touchown run.
I can’t complain about anything on the line, with the exception of Hudson’s historically bad sequence.
Graham Gano — The placekicker did his part, going 3 for 3 with two 33-yard field goals and a 38-yarder.
The Giants’ return game — Gunner Olszewki had a 29-yard kickoff return, losing a 65-yarder due to a penalty. He had three punt returns for an average of 12.7 yards. Tyrone Tracy had five kickoff returns for an average of 26.8 yards. All-in-all, an excellent day that would have been MUCH better without the game-opening penalty.
Wet Willies to …
James Hudson III — In all the years I have watched football, I don’t think I have ever seen anything like the debacle of Hudson’s performance on the Giants’ first drive. Four penalties for 40 yards in penalties (plus what he cost them
Here are all of Hudson’s misadventures:
- Allowed a 5-yard sack by James Houston on a first-and-10 at the Dallas 38-yard line.
- On the next play, Hudson committed a 15-yard penalty for a blow to the head negated a 10-yard Cam Skattebo run and left the Giants in a second-and-30.
- Two plays later, Hudson had a false start on third-and-19 at the Dallas 47.
- On the next play, a 51-yard completion to Wan’Dale Robinson that put the ball at the Dallas 2-yard line, Hudson was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty that moved the ball back to the 17-yard line.
- Finally, on second-and-8 from the 15-yard line, Hudson was again called for a false start.
Hudson sat the remainder of the game.
Penalties — The Giants were assessed 160 yards on 14 accepted penalties. They had six penalties on their opening possession, including one by practice squad call-up Swayze Bozeman on the opening kickoff that negated a 65-yard return by Gunner Olszewski.
Russ’s final throw — This was a bad one. His final moon ball, intercepted by Donovan Wilson of Dallas to give the Cowboys a final chance to win the game, was a miscommunication. In my view, that was just a bad play by Wilson. He was rushed, I don’t think he could see clearly, knew Nabers was down there and just let the ball fly in the hopes something good would happen. Unfortunately, something bad happened.
Wilson referred to it as a “little miscommunication.”
“Just believing in my guy,” Wilson said of his final throw. “He had an unbelievable game, Malik. There is nobody I trust more. Just a little miscommunication, but we’re all on the same page. But he had an unbelievable game.
“Took a shot. It didn’t work out. You know what I mean? Just a little miscommunication.”
It certainly was a bad time for it.
Wilson also had an overtime sack/fumble that cost the Giants 14 yards, and nearly cost them the game before the ball went out of bounds at the Giants’ 21-yard line.
Red zone efficiency — If there was one statistic that can be pointed to as having cost the Giants a victory on Sunday, it is going just 1 of 5 in the red zone. The Giants settled for field goals three times, and had a turnover on downs at the Dallas 10-yard line. That’s not good enough.
Kwillies to …
Cam Skatttebo — The rookie running back is a ball of fire, and he had a nice game running the ball with 11 carries for 45 yards, including a 24-yard run. His drop of a Wilson pass on fourth-and-2 from the Dallas 10-yard line in the third quarter with the Giants leadin 13-10 was a crushing blow. It robbed the Giants of an opportunity to take a two-score lead. And, yes, I saw it as a drop. The throw was a touch late from Wilson, a a tad behind, but Skattebo had both hands on it and it’s the kind of play that has to be made in a wild game like that.
Dru Phillips — The second-year slot cornerback had an interception early in the third quarter that set the Giants up in plus territory. Unfortunately, they could not take advantage. He had 11 tackles. He had a brillian open-field tackle of Jalen Tolbert in overtime to force a Dallas punt. He had two passes defensed.
Unfortunately, Phillips also had two huge penalties. An unnecessary roughness penalty helped Dallas close within 13-10 before the half. A 22-yard pass interference penalty in the third quarter set up a Javonte Williams 30-yard run that gave the Cowboys a 17-13 lead. Phillips also gave up a 25-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb with the Giants leading 23-20 in the fourth quarter.
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