Who has it worse than the New York Giants?

It was really frustrating being a Giants fan on Sunday. Jaxson Dart led Big Blue on touchdown drives during the team’s first two possessions to take 14-3 lead, and it looked like we might be building some momentum ahead of Thursday night’s battle against Philadelphia. Instead of cruising to victory, though, the Giants turned the ball over five times in a row while New Orleans capitalized with 23 unanswered points to get its first win of the season, 26-14.

It’s tough for the Giants to hit on the big play with Malik Nabers missing the rest of season due to a knee injury, but Dart and company were still able to move the ball up and down the field well enough to beat a team like the Saints. The defense even helped out by limiting New Orleans to one offensive touchdown on an 87-yard pass from Spencer Rattler to Rashid Shaheed. The problem was that the Saints got a defensive touchdown when Cam Skattebo fumbled on the first play of the fourth quarter with the Giants threatening in the Red Zone. The ball popped out at the perfect spot for Jordan Howden to scoot 86 yards for the score, and the Giants’ best chance of retaking the lead was wiped out.

New York was looking for the lead before halftime when Darius Slayton caught a pass in Saints territory and then coughed it up for the first turnover of the day. Dart also lost a fumble in the third quarter without being touched by the defense. The final two turnovers were Dart passes that were intercepted by Kool-Aid McKinstry. I thought the first one Dart tried to force into a tight window, but the second was because Beaux Collins broke off his route too early. That’s something that can’t happen on a team that might have the worst wide receiver pool in the league without Nabers. 16 of Dart’s 26 completions were received by tight ends Daniel Bellinger and Theo Johnson as well as Skattebo. Wan’Dale Robinson caught five passes on seven targets, but he only gained 30 yards on them.

The Giants have a chance against the Eagles on Thursday if they can avoid turnovers and keep Philly out of the end zone, but that is a tough ask against one of the league’s best teams. It just feels like the Giants gave away a winnable game on Sunday. It probably goes the other way if the Giants just hang onto the football.

To help us feel better about the Giants, here are some teams that had it even worse than us on Sunday.

Las Vegas Raiders: They were destroyed 40-6 at Indianapolis and have lost four in a row since their season-opening win at New England. It looks like it is time to write Geno Smith off again since he has nine interceptions already.

New York Jets: We can always count on the Jets to somehow be more embarrassing. They surprisingly closed as a favorite over Dallas before getting blown out 37-22 in a huge victory for square bettors and bandwagon New Jersey Cowboys fans. This game was 30-6 after three quarters.

Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals were leading the woeful Titans 21-6 early in the fourth quarter when Emari Demercado burst up the middle and into daylight. It appeared to be a 72-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach, but Demercado let go of the ball inches before he crossed the goal line, resulting in a touchback. The game should have ended again later in the fourth quarter when Cam Ward threw an interception to Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, only to have him fumble the ball away and get recovered by Tennessee’s Tyler Lockett in the end zone for a touchdown. The wild play helped the Titans score 16 straight points for a comeback win. I don’t know how you live with yourself as a Cardinals fan. This is one of the most brutal losses of all time.

Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins led 17-0 in the second quarter in Carolina, but lost 27-24 because Rico Dowdle ran for 206 yards and a touchdown. Just like the Giants blowing an 11-point lead to Rattler and the Saints, it took something extraordinary for Miami to allow a second-division team to come back. The Dolphins meanwhile, had 19 yards rushing for the day.

Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens are like the New York Mets because they came into the season with championship aspirations but are flaming out terribly. They had a chance to get their season back on track against Houston, but Cooper Rush threw three interception and Baltimore continued its shocking trend of being unable to run the ball with Derrick Henry. After rushing for 169 yards in the opener at Buffalo, the future Hall of Famer has just 148 yards on 46 carries in his last four games. The Ravens’ defense allowed a near perfect performance from C.J. Stroud en route to a 44-10 defeat.

New York Yankees: The hunt for the World Series was alive in the Bronx after the Bombers defeated Boston in the Wild Card series, but after dropping Game 1 of the ALDS 10-1 in Toronto, the Yankees fell behind 12-0 in Game 2 before losing 13-7. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a grand slam in the fourth inning and Trey Yesavage held the Yankees hitless for more than five innings while striking out 11 batters in just his fourth big league start.

0
0

0 Comments