BROWNS 20 - GIANTS 6
The Giants chances of winning the NFC East took another huge hit on Sunday, when Big Blue laid a giant blue egg on national television as the Cleveland Browns thumped them 20-6.
The Giants had no answer for Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was sharp all night completing 27-of-32 passes for 297 yards two touchdown passes to Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper.
The Giants could have made a game of this seemingly one-side affair, but Joe Judge's gambles got the best of the first year head coach. On the opening drive of the game, the Giants were rolling deep into Cleveland territory, buoyed by a 48-yard kick return by Dion Lewis to open things up. However the Giants inability to capitalize inside the Browns 10-yard line, forced what should have been an easy three points.
Instead Judge gambled, and decided to have punter Ron Dixon take the snap in the shotgun and throw the ball in the endzone, which he did, widely out of bounds. Instead of a 3-0 Giants lead, it was 0-0.
Mayfield would eventually lead Cleveland on a long 75-yard scoring drive that culminated in the touchdown pass to Hooper to make 7-3 in the second.
Again the Giants had another opportunity to score, and again they let it go by the wayside. The Giants made their way all the way down to Cleveland 10-yard line, and instead of trying to get the ball into the endzone, they ran it twice, once with Lewis for a short gain on thrid down, and then again with Wayne Gallman on fourth and two, an inexplicable decision. Twice the Giants were down in the red zone, and twice they came up with nothing.
While the blame for the playcalling could be pinned on interim Offensive Coordinator Freddie Kitchens, who was trying to stick it to his former team, the blame ultimately falls on Joe Judge.
Think about it, the Giants were overly aggressive twice in goal-to-go scenarios, but when it came to a fourth and short in the middle of the field in the third quarter, they punted.
Meanwhile Mayfield did basically whatever he wanted to the Giants secondary. Cleveland's 95-yard scoring drive that ate up the rest of the third quarter and a good chunk of the fourth quarter all but ended the game.
At 5-9 the Giants are basically finished. They need to win out and hope that Washington loses both of their final two games. A win by the Washington Football Team next week against Carolina combined with a Giants loss to Baltimore all but wraps up the NFC East.
As for Cleveland, their 10 wins match the best season they have had since 2006.
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