Giants Defense Shines in Tumultuous Sunday Night Loss

Coming into Sunday night, the New York Giants knew they would be without many key starters. Starting QB Daniel Jones headlines the list, along with All-Pro Left Tackle Andrew Thomas. Joshua Ezeudu has filled in for Thomas, who has missed the last five games. Many other players, such as rookie Center John Michael Schmitz and Tackle Matt Peart, missed last night. Despite the Giants being down so many key starters, they stayed in the game with the Buffalo Bills until the last snap.

Wink Martindale's defense came out firing on all cylinders last night. Playing against one of the premier QB WR duos in the NFL, Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, his unit stood up to the task. Having held the Bills offense to zero points through three quarters is no easy task, especially when your offense isn't getting long, sustainable drives. Middle Linebacker Bobby Okereke, the Giant's most significant free-agent addition in the offseason, played fantastic last night. Okereke was all over last night, covering ground like a hawk in the middle field. He had multiple tipped passes that prevented big plays and one that he tipped for an interception. Bobby O's impact was a catalyst for the rest of the defense to follow suit, and for the most part, they did. 

Rookie Corners Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins played a lot of snaps last night alongside veteran Adoree Jackson. Despite facing a formidable offense, the group handled itself well for most of the night. Diggs still caught ten balls for 100 yards on the night, but Josh Allen only had 69 other passing yards. In the fourth quarter, miscommunication on the back end led to points for Buffalo's offense, letting up two passing touchdowns to seal the deal.

While not perfect, the Giant's defense played as well as anyone could wish for, and still, the team came up short. Recently, there have been comments made from Giants defensive starters seemingly voicing their frustrations with the lack of offensive production. Captain FS Xavier Mckinney expressed his frustrations after last week's loss to Miami, stating, " What we aren't gonna keep doing is blaming the defense."  For Head Coach Brian Daboll, this is something to monitor as the season progresses. If this defensive unit puts forth efforts like they did this week, without the offense bringing forth any success, tensions could boil over. 

Offensively, the Giant offense was stagnant for the majority of the game. Tyrod Taylor filled in for Daniel Jones in his absence and played as well as possible behind a bruised and battered offensive line.  Taylor did make a costly mistake coming in at the Bill's one-yard line. Taylor was told by Head Coach Brian Daboll that under no circumstance should he run the ball with thirteen seconds on the clock and no timeouts. According to Taylor, he was aware of this yet checked to a run play at the line of scrimmage, which resulted in no gain. The Giants could not get set in time for another play, and the time expired in the half, with the Giants getting nothing out of an incredible drive. Unfortunately for New York, they would fail again at the one-yard line on the game's last play. This time, Taylor passed the ball to Tight End Darren Waller, but he could not come down with it. 

A hot topic of discussion in the football world is the last play of the game. Waller appears to be held the whole way by Bill's Corner, Taron Johnson, with an official right next to the play, but no penalty was thrown. Ultimately, they may not have been in that scenario if the Giants had managed the clock correctly the first time. Kicking a field goal or scoring a touchdown could have potentially set the Giants up with the lead or a chance to take it with a field goal. 

Ultimately, the Giants stand at 1-5, a far cry from where they expected to be coming into the season. This past week will be remembered not by how close they were to winning but by how many times they fell face-first when given the opportunity. The road map ahead has them facing a much easier stretch of games than what they have faced thus far. However, if injuries continue to riddle this team, hoping for a successful season may be useless.