By Andrew Rosario
This was a game the New York Giants needed to win. They faced a San Francisco 49er team ravaged with injuries. No starting quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo), tight end (George Kittle) running back (Raheem Mostert) and defensive player (Nick Bosa). In their first two losses, Big Blue had a chance to come away with victories only to come up short against the Steelers and Chicago.
For the second week in a row, the Niners traveled cross country to play at MetLife Stadium. For the second week in row, they came away with a victory. Two Robbie Gould field goals (41, 38) got San Fransisco on the board first 6-0. The second coming after a Daniel Jones pitch to Evan Engram resulted in a fumble. Just a poor pitch,’’ Jones said. Engram chimed in. “Just didn’t execute it,” he said. “Worked on it all week.’’ The Giants responded tying the score with two field goals of their own from Graham Gano (41, 45). New York would put only 3 more points on the board the rest of the game as it was all downhill from there.
After the Niners went up 16-9, the Giants defense caved allowing three touchdowns on the next three Niner possessions. Head coach Joe Judge was at a loss explaining yet another disappointing performance. “We’re not looking for excuses, we’re not pointing fingers, we’re not looking for shortcuts,’’ he said. “We’re working on building this thing the right way for this area for the families that this team represents.’’
In his first year as a starter, Daniel Jones (17 of 32 for 129 yards, no TDs,1 interception) finished with a 56.6 passer rating. He continues making mistakes resulting in a fumble or interception. In 15 games as a starter, Jones has turned the ball over 29 times. No team would have a winning record with those stats.
On the defensive side, things weren’t any better. New York allowed 49er back-up Nick Mullens to complete 25 of 36 passes for 343 yards and a touchdown. Said linebacker Blake Martinez, “obviously it sucks to lose. Any competitor would handle it in a professional way, knowing that it’s not good enough. Knowing what we’ve been doing isn’t it.’’
Forget the division games against Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington. The Giants will face the Rams (Jared Goff), Tampa (Tom Brady), Bengals (Joe Burrow), Seattle Russell Wilson), Arizona (Kyler Murray), Browns (Baker Mayfield) and the Ravens (Lamar Jackson).
The storied New York Football Giants franchise has never gone an entire season without winning a game. There is a first time for everything.
