EAST RUTHERFORD — The Giants lost again Sunday at MetLife Stadium, 27-22, their fourth straight defeat overall, fourth straight in the division and fifth straight at home through the first nine weeks of the season.
That wasn’t surprising. They were playing a good Washington Commanders team.
But what’s ridiculous is how the 2-7 Giants keep finding new ways to melt down, which is a sign that this team is destined for a top-five draft pick for the third time in six years.
Typically the Giants’ defense has played well in these home games. At least well enough until the wheels fall off by the fourth quarter because the offense can’t control the ball.
That wasn’t the case Sunday. The offense was humming early with a dominant rushing attack in a first quarter where they ran the ball on 17 of 20 plays for 115 yards and held the ball for 12:30. And the Giants ultimately scored three touchdowns at home for the first time since Week 18 of last season.
Yet they were playing from behind most of the afternoon and faced a precarious 21-7 deficit at halftime. That was mostly on the defense.
“I think the offense played well enough for us to win,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence admitted. “Defense just got beat up today.”
In fairness, Daniel Jones had a killer early turnover in the first quarter when he responded to pressure off the left edge by trying to fling the ball directly in front of him and fumbling. It was a weird play because the officials whistled it dead before the Commanders could score a touchdown, but it was still a terrible look for the Giants to not play it safe and pursue the ball.
Still: The defense promptly let up 31 yards on the next three plays for a touchdown. Then after the offense had a 16-play touchdown drive, the defense gave up another score on the very next drive in six minutes. And worst of all, the defense somehow let up a touchdown when the Commanders faced third-and-18 at the Giants’ 42 with only 20 seconds left in the half.
There was a badly missed tackle by Dru Phillips near the line of scrimmage on a 24-yard catch. There was Deonte Banks failing to locate the ball as he got beaten by Terry McLaurin in the end zone for the second time, although Phillips took responsibility for not switching in coverage on the first touchdown.
But what really killed the Giants throughout the afternoon was having no pass rush. They led the NFL with 35 sacks coming into this game, and yet they had none against the Commanders and only two quarterback hits courtesy of Azeez Ojulari.
“They were chipping us on the edges most of the game, and we’ve just got to find a way to get there on the chip still and try to get back on our rush as fast as we can,” Ojulari said.
Failing that often won’t get the job done, especially when you’re working with an offense that has a compromised line with All-Pro left Andrew Thomas lost for the season and Jones being what he is at this point: a mediocre quarterback who has virtually no deep ball, a weak pocket presence and some strong legs to make him a tough runner.
The Giants’ defensive front certainly made nowhere near the impact it did when it sacked Jayden Daniels five times in Week 2. In that first matchup in Washington, the Giants became the first team in NFL history to score three touchdowns, allow none and still lose in regulation.
Then when the offense actually has a decent day, the defense is nowhere to be found. Go figure.
Look, there’s still plenty to clean up for this offense. Jones completed 4-of-6 passing attempts for zero yards in the first half, which is inconceivable in the modern game. The Giants had a great rushing output for the second straight week (31 carries for 164 yards), but a one-dimensional offense can only bring you so far.
The reality, though, is that we know the limitations of this offense given the personnel deficiencies. The same can’t be same for the defense, which has a Player of the Year candidate in Lawrence, who leads the league with nine sacks, and the third highest-paid edge rusher in Brian Burns, who is one of 23 players with at least 11 quarterback hits.
Where were they in this game?
They combined for 10 tackles but had made no impactful plays when it mattered most, which has become a theme for this bad football team that doesn’t play much complementary football.
The Giants scored on all three of their second-half possessions, but the defense couldn’t force a punt in the fourth quarter.
“They gave us a chance to win,” Lawrence said, “and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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