The New York Giants were an abomination in Week 4. Hosting the visiting Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium, the Giants have countless opportunities to seize control of a game that was there for the taking. Every time they had a chance to build some momentum, they gave the opportunity away.
There were numerous chances for the tides to turn. Down only 14-3, the Giants’ defense picked up a fourth-down stop, keeping the Seahawks off the board. The offense subsequently goes three-and-out and punts the ball back, losing four yards on the drive.
The defense once again bends but doesn’t break, forcing the Seahawks to attempt a long field goal, which Jason Myers missed. New York was able to build some positive momentum, getting down to the six-yard line. That is when Daniel Jones threw an inexplicable interception, which rookie Devon Witherspoon took 97 yards for a touchdown, putting the nail in the coffin for the Giants.
That interception was only one play in a comedy reel of errors for the Giants on Monday Night Football. Jones was sacked 11 times as the offensive line had a pitiful performance. The blown assignment defensively allowed tight end Noah Fant to rumble 52 yards down the sideline virtually untouched before halftime.
But, the play that takes the cake as the most embarrassing was the Giants’ version of the push play which the Philadelphia Eagles have made famous. The Eagles make the play look unstoppable, always converting. New York failed to gain an inch, turning the ball over on downs.
As if the outcome of the play wasn’t bad enough, more insult was added to injury, literally. Making matters worse was that the Giants lost two key players to injury during the play.
Starting center John Michael Schmitz and tight end Daniel Bellinger were both hurt. Schmitz is dealing with a shoulder injury while Bellinger has a knee problem as neither player returned to the game.
“Yeah, both guys got hurt on that play,” coach Brian Daboll said of the fourth-and-1 rush attempt on the Giants’ opening drive Monday night.
It is easy to imagine those injuries could have been avoided had this been a play that the Giants practiced more. Daboll conceded that the team hadn’t actually practiced it live recently, which just piles on the embarrassment.
“You walk through it,” he said. “It’s not a live rep of practice. We’ve been successful at it. Just not on that one.”
Everything about that play, from the personnel down to the execution, was done poorly. That play pretty much epitomizes how the 2023 season has gone thus far for the Giants; one mishap after the other.
