Giants Sit One Game Out of First as They Take Down Washington

The Good

Yet again, the Giants defense was the big storyline. For the third time in five games, the defense allowed less than 20 points. Even more impressively, for the fifth time in six games, the defense had at least one turnover and this was already the third game in which the Giants had two turnovers. For many years, the defense had been the biggest issue and now they are a strong spot.

Big Blue’s defense continues to be anchored by none other than Blake Martinez. Martinez has been an absolute beast on the field this season. This was one of his best games this season as he had a whopping 14 tackles, including eight solo. The 14 combined tackles were a season-high for Martinez.

Martinez continues to be seemingly everywhere all at once. If Dave Gettleman did one thing right this offseason, signing Martinez was definitely it. The Giants’ defense also had three sacks in the game as well one that was returned for a touchdown by Tae Crowder. James Bradberry also continued to play well as he had an interception.

The Giants offensive line also deserved a bit of credit for their performance this week. For the first time all season, Jones was only sacked one time. The offensive line had been a sore spot for the Giants. However, this week, they stepped up for the most part. Jones looked more comfortable in the pocket and had time to make smarter plays.

The Bad

It feels like a weekly occurrence that Daniel Jones does something wrong and, sadly, this week was no different. While the Giants did not lose the game, he was not so incredible. Jones only threw for 112 yards, one interception, but did get a touchdown.

You may be wondering why Jones ended up in the bad this week, and it is for that one interception he threw. Jones was no more than a game manager this week. The issue is, however, that one interception did two things. First off, it allowed Washington to get the ball back and tie the game at 13. Second, it was an atrocious play.

Jones and the Giants were in the red zone and were primed for, at the least, a field goal. While under pressure, Jones heaves the ball towards the back of the end zone. It seems as though he is attempting to have it sail out the back. However, that was not the case.

The throw was short and would be intercepted in the end zone. This was a poor choice on Jones’ end and he can not continue to make these poor decisions and bad throws. Jones needs to know that his team has a great scoring chance and, at the worst, should just take the sack and settle for the field goal.

Going Beyond the Score

You may look at the score and just be excited that the Giants were able to win the game. However, this score is slightly misleading if you watched the game. This game absolutely should have, at the least, gone to overtime and, in turn, possibly had the Giants end up losing.

The truth is that the Giants ended up getting extremely lucky on the last play of the game for Washington. After scoring a last-minute touchdown, Washington decided to go for a two-point conversion and the win, instead of the extra point and force overtime.

While, yes, the Giants did win, the score does not truly reflect how close this game was at the end. It does not tell the story of the game nearly being at least forced into overtime and quite possibly another loss for the Giants.

The Verdict

The Giants won and this could easily be the start of a streak of wins, especially with an easier upcoming schedule. If the Giants can take the momentum from this win, they could end up as well as 4-1 in their next five games. It will just need to be more of the same for them. The offense and defense must continue to show up and play well on the same days.

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