what? why? how?

    A lot of Giants game over the years have left me frustrated, exhausted, angry, and just flat out sad. But the Giants made me feel a different type of emotion yesterday and I still don't know how to describe it. 

    From the beginning, based off of both teams' tendencies and the forecast of rain all afternoon, we knew it was going to be a low scoring defensive battle. And in a way I guess it was. On the first possession of the game Kayvon Thibodeaux sacked Jet's quarterback Zach Wilson resulting in a fumble recovered by Big Blue. The Giants only were able to manage a field goal (go figure) on the drive and took the early lead. Then began the punt fest, where for most of the first quarter both offenses kept booting it back and forth. That was until the Jet's second-year running back broke free on a screen pass and took it 50-yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter. 

   The rest of the first half continued to be just punts and one fumble by the Jets that the Giants still could not find a way to cash in on. With six minutes to go in the second quarter, Tyrod Taylor took a big hit on the sideline and was very slow to get up. Taylor seemed to be in a lot of pain, grabbing at his ribcage which has been an issue for him in the past. He was ruled out immediately and taken to nearby Hackensack Medical Hospital. This left the local kid from Don Bosco Prep, Tommy DeVito, to take his first real NFL snaps. But not really. With Tyrod out, Daboll and Kafka decided to run, a lot. It seemed that the coaching staff had little trust in DeVito in his first game and opted to hand if off to Saquon for the rest of the contest. Although after the game Daboll told reporters that handing it off was his gameplan all week. 

    The Giants lone touchdown came on the first drive of the second half on a third down read option play were DeVito took it himself and scored for the first time in his very young career. 

(Image via AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

    The second half was filled with rain and even more punts until the fourth quarter. On a 4th and 10 from his own 41, Zach Wilson scrambled out of the pocket and was sacked, again by Thibodeaux. For most NFL teams the game would be over, and it should have been, but real Giants fans know better than to celebrate before triple zeroes. 

    Up three with the ball, to literally nobodies surprise, the Giants handed off to Saquon three straight times leaving them with a 4th and 1 with 28 seconds. Daboll brought the field goal unit on and Graham Gano missed his second field goal, giving the Jets 24 seconds to get into field goal range. And they did just that, Zach Wilson hit Garrett Wilson on a deep pass and they were eventually able to spike the ball and set up a game tying field goal to send it to OT at 10-10. The Giants got the ball first and they actually let DeVito throw. But not far. He threw three short passes to Saquon and the G-Men punted it right back. The Jets went right down the field and with the help of a blatant pass interference on Adoree' Jackson, they set up Greg Zuerlein for a 33-yard field goal to win it.

    Ughh. That one hurts. Losing to little brother is annoying but to do it in that fashion is maddening. This one reminded me of the 2017-21 Giants. Those teams could find a new way to lose every week. Since hiring Daboll I truly thought those days were behind us. The 2022 Giants win this game, but they seemed to revert back to their old selves on Sunday and find a way to blow the game in the final two minutes. I'm still team Daboll and don't think he should be on the hot seat, but nonetheless this loss is unacceptable and concerning at the very least. 

    My lone positive takeaway was Thibodeaux. Since the game in San Francisco he has been on an absolute tear. Kayvon played all but two snaps and ended the day with 3 sacks, 6 solo tackles, 3 tackles for loss vs the Jets. Thibs is now tied for third in the league in sacks with 8.5 through just seven games. He is finally becoming the player we drafted with the 5th overall pick in 2022 and I'm excited to see him continued to develop. Aside from that not much to be happy about, at least DJ has been cleared to play and should be back in action in Las Vegas. 

(Image via Christopher Pope/Pope Photography)