By Andrew Rosario
When the New York Football Giants look back on their 2020 season, they will come to one conclusion. It was a year of missed opportunities. Aside from them getting routed by the San Francisco 49ers in week 3 (36-9) they were in the position to win every game. When they hosted Tom Brady and his new team this past Monday night at MetLife Stadium, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were tied with the New Orleans Saints (5-2) in the NFC South. By the end of the game, they were in first place.
Giants head coach Joe Judge spent the last 8 years as an assistant coach under Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots giving him insight to the inner workings of quarterback Tom Brady. It showed from the very beginning. Tampa would get the ball to start the game and march down the field but could only come away with a 37-yard Ryan Succop field goal. Brady completing 3 passes for 41 yards. New York would give the ball back after 8 plays before forcing a Tampa turnover. From the shotgun, Brady finds Ronald Jones II for a 3-yard pass. He is hit immediately by linebacker Blake Martinez forcing the fumble. 3 plays later, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones finds running back Deon Lewis in the left corner of the end zone for the 7-yard touchdown pass.
Both teams would punt the next time they had possession before New York would extend their lead in the second quarter. Starting on their own 23, Brown completes 4 passes for 48 yards, getting the team down to the Tampa 2-yard line. Running back Wayne Gallman runs it in pushing the lead to 14-3. Succop kicks a 40-yard field goal right before halftime narrowing the lead (14-6).
The New York defense did all they could do to contain Brady and the Bucs offense in the first half. Getting the ball to start the third quarter and looking to put more points on the board, Jones would throw his first interception leading to more points for Tampa as Succop kicks a 43-yard field goal bringing them to 14-9. The Giants would go 3 and out the next time they touched the ball. Brady took it from there giving them their second lead of the game. After hitting wide receiver Mike Evans for a 20-yard completion, Brady connects with tight end Rob Gronkowski for the 3-yard touchdown pass. The 2-point conversion doesn’t work. The Giants briefly regained the lead (17-15) after a 33-yard Graham Gano field goal.
The Giants forced a Tampa 3 and out getting the ball to start the 4th quarter when Jones second interception would ultimately cost them the game. After hitting wide receiver Golden Tate with a 12-yard pass, Jones, from the shotgun, gets pressured by linebacker Shaquil Barrett. Looking for Tate again, cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting steps in front for the interception. 6 plays later, Brady (28-40, 279 yards, 2 td’s 0 int’s) finds receiver Mike Evans for the 8-yard touchdown pass. New York goes 3 and out and Tampa kicks another field goal making it 25-17.
Jones (25-41, 256 yards, 2 td’s, 2 int’s) had one last chance to redeem himself. Starting at their own 30, Jones constructs a 13 play, 75-yard drive ending in a 19-yard touchdown catch by Tate. The big play, Jones scrambling before finding Darius Slayton for a 12-yard catch. Unfortunately, they could not convert the 2-point attempt on a pass that was first called pass interference. After a review/discussion by the referees, it was determined that cornerback Tampa’s Antoine Winfield Jr did not impede the attempted catch by Dion Lewis. Said Jones, “got to get the ball out there sooner to him.”
Judge was asked about making a quarterback change (Jones had 34 turnovers in his previous 20 games) as well as losing the last 16 of the 19 games he has started. “Daniel’s our quarterback. What we have to do is just make sure we keep improving everything around him.’’
The New York Giants fell to 1-7 in a division where no team has a winning record. They travel to Washington Sunday. The only team they have beaten this year. “I don’t really care about the record,’’ said a clearly frustrated safety Jabril Peppers. “We’re playing good football. We just got to tie it all together.’’
