A $1 ticket for an NFL game – or nearly any professional sporting event for that matter – sounds like a phenomenal deal. But most bargains come with a catch and Sunday’s was no exception: you had to watch the New York Giants play football.
Still, mere pennies to be part of the sights and sounds of an NFL game may be worth it, even if a Giants loss is predetermined. The Giants did indeed lose on Sunday, 14-11 to New Orleans, but the fine print neglected to mention the suffering that would come with watching the team’s latest botch job.
Misery is everywhere around the Giants, hence the $1 tickets on resale. Eight straight losses will do that to a fan base. Fans are tired of the team’s woes, and a banner was flown over MetLife before the game with a clear message to the Giants’ owner: “Mr Mara enough – plz fix this dumpster fire.”
That dumpster fire has been intense. It starts with owner John Mara and his recent streak of failed head coaches, from Pat Shurmur to Joe Judge to Brian Daboll, who is 17-29 after Sunday’s loss. It continues with a GM, Joe Schoen, who has failed miserably when it comes to developing the two most important aspects on offense: the O-line and the quarterback (some blame must be given to his predecessor Dave Gettleman for drafting the now ex-Giant Daniel Jones so highly in the first place.)
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But even with the negative vibes swirling around MetLife, the Giants did a remarkable thing for a team whose season has long been over. They almost won, thanks to their defence who had their best day of the season in terms of points allowed (14), their second-best for yards allowed (292), and the biggest shocker: Tre Hawkins III collected the team’s first interception since Week 1.
Unfortunately for a team to win games they must also score points. Drew Lock has no business being a starting quarterback in the NFL at this point. Lock failed to complete 28 of his 49 passes. Some were drops, but most were his fault or the result of a limited offensive playbook.
But the special teams had a special place in mucking this one up. First Graham Gano had a 48-yard field goal negated by an unnecessary roughness penalty on Jake Kubas. Then, with a chance to send the game to overtime, Gano’s 35-yarder was blocked. That’s the kind of field goal that should be routine, but Gano doesn’t necessarily agree.
“I don’t think you can blame our guys at all on that, they made a good play. They’ve got great athletes on their side, as well,” he told reporters after the game.
Huh? You can and you should assign blame. It’s called accountability, something else the Giants have lacked from top to bottom this season.
Do Giants fans really have to endure four more weeks of this, starting with Lamar Jackson and Baltimore Ravens next week? At least there are some bright spots. Rookie wideout Malik Nabers is a clear talent, who can soar with even an average quarterback. Nabers has been nursing a hip injury and the Giants ought to preserve his health and sanity and bottle him up for the remainder of the season.
Fellow rookie Tyrone Tracy’s emergence at running back has been a nice story. Tracy found the end zone for the Giants’ only touchdown on the day. Linebacker Micah McFadden is also a stud. But, aside from the injured Dexter Lawrence and Bobby Okereke, it doesn’t get much deeper with this team.
There’s much work to be done. A house cleaning seems inevitable, and the Giants are in a decent position. They currently hold the No 2 pick in the draft. And because the Jones cap hit drops from $41.61 million to $22.2 million, the presumed new GM will have an extra $20 million to play with. But Mara must put the right people in place. And, based on the precedent of decisions stemming from Mara and the organisation, Giants fans should probably temper expectations. Until this team makes major changes, they’re not even worth a $1 to watch.
MVP of the week: Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
Atlanta-Minnesota was long billed as Kirk Cousins’s revenge game. But the only revenge in this one was Darnold to MVP voters who have dismissed him from the conversation. He was sensational in the Vikings’ 42-21 win over Atlanta, hurling a career-high five touchdowns and 347 passing yards. Darnold’s 157.9 passer rating Sunday was his 11th 100+ passer rating this season.
It wasn’t just the monster numbers; it was the style points along the way. Most notably was a third and eight late in the third quarter when Darnold calmly evaded pressured and found Justin Jefferson deep amid blown coverage for a walk-in 52-yard touchdown. He made smart decisions and beautiful throws all day, making fruitful outings for Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Darnold capped off the career performance in the closing minutes by standing on the bench, waving a towel, and taking in the crowd’s raucous MVP chants.
Now 11-2, the Vikings have far exceeded preseason expectations thanks to Darnold’s resurgence. No matter what happens moving forward this year, Vikings brass ought to get working on a contract extension for Darnold. This is clearly his team now, even with JJ McCarthy waiting in the wings.
Video of the week
Tom Brady said it best. “You’ve got to be kidding me” sums up this absolutely insane toe dragging catch from Puka Nacua. Nacua had plenty of other great moments in the Rams’ 44-42 thrilling win over the Bills and is only getting better in his sophomore season. The Rams, who at one point held a 17-point lead, needed every one of Nacau’s 12 catches and 162 yards. Josh Allen carried Buffalo to the brink of an amazing upset: he had six TDs on the day, three as a rusher and three as a passer – the first player to do so in history. The Bills lost but Allen reconfirmed he’s the NFL’s most dangerous player.
Stat of the week
The Philadelphia Eagles failed to score in the first quarter for the 10th time this season. Sure, they beat Carolina 22-16 and Saquon Barkley broke LeSean McCoy’s franchise record for most rushing yards in a season. At 11-2, Philly are very much chasing Detroit for the coveted No 1 seed in the playoffs. But they have to stop playing with fire. Only two of the scoreless first quarters have resulted in losses, and this was dangerously close to becoming the third. Despite a tough season, Carolina have morphed into a difficult opponent.
The Panthers mostly ran a balanced, smart offense, while the Eagles’ passing struggles continued. Still, a team with Super Bowl hopes should be pounding the Panthers. Ultimately this was a ping-pong nail-biter thanks to a number of Panthers mistakes. The most dramatic was wideout Xavier Legette failing to hold on to a game-tying touchdown with 44 seconds remaining. The Kentucky punter who wagered $3.1 million on an Eagles win should send Legette a cut of his winnings. The rest of us should refrain from Eagles bets until they learn how to put up first-quarter points because their early-game struggles are dangerously close to catching up with them.
Elsewhere around the NFL
• Of course the Kansas City Chiefs scraped to victory on Sunday Night Football. Their 19-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers was their 10th one-score win this season, and also clinched the AFC West, KC’s ninth-straight divisional title. Each week, we’re certain the Chiefs will be found out, but they keep on winning, and Patrick Mahomes keeps on raising his game when it matters: their game-sealing drive lasted nearly five minutes and the quarterback scampered away from defenders time and again to set up the winning field goal.
• One piece of good news for the Giants: they may not be the worst New York football team, and at least they have a passing familiarity with the postseason. The Jets, meanwhile, will miss the playoffs for a 14th straight season – and this was a year in which they were supposed to be an outside contender for the Super Bowl. Sunday’s loss, a 32-26 heartbreaker in OT, was among New York’s least embarrassing. The Jets arguably played their best football of the season but let the lead slip in the fourth quarter. With the Jets taking the lead 26-23 with 52 seconds left, Miami’s Malik Washington returned the kickoff 45 yards to set up the tying field goal. The Dolphins won the overtime toss and drove down the field for the win.
• Jameis Winston took any notion of becoming the Cleveland Browns’ long-term solution at quarterback and threw it straight to the opposing team. Sunday’s version of Winston featured two interceptions, one in the fourth quarter, and a more tepid passing game than we’ve seen in recent weeks. The result was a 27-14 win for the red-hot Steelers and a non-committal answer by Browns coach Kevin Stefanski on who his starting quarterback will be next week.
• The San Francisco 49ers regained consciousness after last week’s drubbing in Buffalo, cruising to an easy 38-13 win over the Chicago Bears. Interim Bears head coach Thomas Brown did not inspire much confidence in his debut. Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Co destroyed Chicago’s weak zone defence. Per usual, Caleb Williams had some bright spots but held on to the ball too long in spots. San Francisco at 6-7 are still in the playoff hunt.
• Another week, another smooth one-handed catch for rookie tight end Brock Bowers. The Raiders are going nowhere – Tampa beat them 28-13 on Sunday – but the No 12 overall pick in the draft is breaking records. Bowers’s 87th reception Sunday gave him the NFL rookie record for tight ends. Next target: Breaking Nacua’s record 105 receptions for any rookie. Bowers may already be the NFL’s best tight end. Imagine what he could do with an upgrade at quarterback.
• A familiar name has emerged for the vacant head coaching spot at the University of North Carolina. Bill Belichick is said to have met with UNC officials last week. The job could be attractive if the 72-year-old believes he’ll again be passed over for an NFL job. Belichick is attempting to negotiate a guarantee that his son, Stephen, would succeed him as head coach. Despite a 48-year NFL coaching career, Bill Belichick has zero college coaching experience. But his 24-year-old girlfriend should help him keep up on Gen Z trends and behaviours. – Guardian
