After a dismal three-week stretch in which they blew a big fourth-quarter lead and got blown out twice, the New York Giants found themselves in the (literally) windy city of Chicago needing to win seven of their final eight games to have a reasonable hope of making the NFL Playoffs at 9-8.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance?
Well, no. Today’s game against the Chicago Bears would mostly be the start of an eight-week referendum on whether the Giants’ coaching staff and players could remedy season-long (three seasons-long, actually) problems that have caused this team to under-perform, and worse yet this year, anyway, to under-perform their talent level.
The votes on this referendum may be in after only one week. What did we learn from the Giants’ 24-20 loss to the Bears?
You knew it was inevitable
Jaxson Dart is the most exciting thing to happen to the Giants since…maybe since Lawrence Taylor. I’m old enough to remember when LT joined the Giants in 1981, the immediate impact he had, and how he changed the whole mood surrounding the team in the wink of any eye. The Giants have had many great players since then, but none who were as exciting right away. Odell Beckham Jr. came close, perhaps, but nothing beats a franchise quarterback.
Today Dart was doing all the great things we’ve seen him do almost since he first stepped onto the field as a Giant: The ability to read defenses and go past his first read, the ability to layer the ball into intermediate depths against a zone defense, the way he sees the full field, the ability to manipulate the pocket…and of course, his legs, which have been used to remarkable effect. Today he had two more rushing TDs, bringing his season total to seven, and 242 passing yards in less than a full game. He’s taken a beating, though, and today the chickens finally came home to roost.
The Giants had the ball with a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter inside Bears territory when Dart took off on a run, was hit, fumbled, and hit his head on the ground. The Giants were marching toward a possible TD that would have given them a three-score lead. Dart left the game with what turned out to be a concussion. The game turned right there.
We hope that Dart will not miss a game, but more importantly, we hope that this is not the start of a recurring problem that could affect his career. He has a role to play in that. He has to learn to be smarter when he has the ball and not insist on getting every yard. A long productive career will be better than a “what could have been” career shortened by this type of injury.
When you play not to lose, you lose
Every now and then it’s good to remember the eternal wisdom of Herm Edwards:
The context of Edwards’ rant was teams not giving up, and I don’t think the Giants’ players and coaches have given up…yet. The coaches, though, seem to be afraid to play to win. We’ve discussed ad nauseum the passive defenses called by defensive coordinator Shane Bowen when the Giants had a late lead. Today, though, the goat’s horns at least in part have to go to Brian Daboll. The Giants, with a 17-10 lead and 10:19 left in the game, left a 19-yard Younghoe Koo field goal on the board rather than accept a penalty that would have put the ball inside the 1-yard line with a chance to score a TD that would have put them up by two TDs.
This Giants season was already effectively over coming into this game. There’s nothing left to lose. I get it, the Giants’ offensive line is not great at run blocking, and making that half a yard was anything but certain. Even if you miss, though, the Bears would have had 99+ yards to go to tie the score. More to the point, you’re sending a message to your team that you’re playing scared, not playing to win. With 2 minutes left? Sure. With 10+ minutes, though, it’s a losing play. Playing scared is not playing to win the game.
Caleb Williams gets a lot of credit for the Bears’ comeback. I thought he played amazingly well today, continually refusing to be brought down by the Giants’ pass rush, both by eluding it and by breaking free of it when they did lay hands on him. The rest of the defense played spirited, too – we saw several passes defensed, and I think I even saw one example of the D setting the edge on an outside run. Still, when your head coach is afraid to go for the win, it’s chilling. Whatever happened to the Brian Daboll who passed up the extra point in Tennessee in his first game as head coach and went for the win?
Does any team have more un-special teams than the Giants?
All season, the Giants’ special teams have contributed to their losses. The Graham Gano saga has been ridiculous, and Jude McAtamney directly contributed to the crushing fourth quarter collapse in Denver that began the Giants’ downward spiral. Today at least, Younghoe Koo was perfect on his extra points and the one short field goal he had to make.
Instead, it was Jamie Gillan’s turn today. After the Bears closed the gap to 20-17 with four minutes to play, the Giants (of course) went three and out and punted the ball back to Chicago with three minutes left. Russell Wilson was sacked twice on that series, leaving the Giants at their own 27-yard line. A nice booming punt would have at least forced Chicago to go 75 yards or so to win the game. Instead, Gillan shanked it and the Bears set up shop near midfield. You knew the game was over at that point.
There must be no team that pays less attention to special teams than the Giants…this, even though they use up roster spots at skill positions with players who only play special teams, while keeping players they have no intention of using this season like Evan Neal on the roster.
At least Darius Slayton and Theo Johnson redeemed themselves
Slayton has had a brutal season after signing the biggest contract of his career, especially that game in New Orleans. Today, though, he caught four balls in four targets for 89 yards in freezing, bad weather conditions. This one may rival the 2014 OBJ catch against Dallas:
Slayton can be a frustrating player, but he is also the Giants’ best deep threat with Malik Nabers sidelined. He should have had a 69-yard TD in Philadelphia two weeks ago were it not for a ridiculous penalty call. He was great today before his hamstring acted up again.
Props also to Theo Johnson. Early this season Johnson has looked like one of those Evan Engram-type players, guys with great athleticism who don’t know how to consistently catch the ball. Today though he caught seven balls in eight targets for 75 yards, including this beauty on a seam route:
This one, too, on which he dragged both toes to make the catch in-bounds:
Even without Nabers, the players are there to make this offense work. Now if only the coaches believed that.
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